If you’re like me, you might find enjoyment in turning the calendar page and starting a new month. You may feel like it’s a clean slate and a fresh start (or re-start) for your goals and dreams.
Regardless of where you are in your journey of growth, the flip of a calendar helps many of us feel like we’re getting a second chance. The first of the month feels so new and full of possibilities.
While the feeling is true and sometimes helpful, the reality of this concept isn’t very reliable. It isn’t the calendar-flip that made us feel this way, it’s our current mindset. This feeling is often unproductive because it allows us to put off another goal, task, and even a dream.
The calendar is here to help us keep track of time and society’s agenda (i.e. holidays, school, vacation, etc.). It is not here to dictate our moods, motivation levels, and attitudes.
This good calendar-flipping feeling we experience is often disguised as procrastination and justification. It is procrastination because we might be tempted to put off another goal or task for later, when we wished to accomplish it way sooner. It is justification because we, yet again, excuse ourselves from living the life we truly desire.
The truth of the reality is that our life is exactly as we want it right now. Everything we are doing right now is exactly what we want to be doing. And I know what you might be thinking: this isn’t what I want though. Right?
Idealistic Wants vs. Immediate Actions
Our current physical life is a direct representation of what we want. I’m not talking about the things we cannot control (our pasts, future, others and their behaviors, opinions, treatment of us, etc.). I’m referring to what we can control. Our idealistic wants seem intertwined with our immediate actions because we often mingle the two too closely.
My definition of an idealistic want is to mentally and emotionally desire and wish for something doing nothing about it in the present or near-future moment. And according to Collins dictionary, immediate action is when an immediate result, action, or reaction happens or is done with no delay.
To keep it simple and truthful, our idealistic wants are not currently present in our lives. They are merely ideas that have yet to be acted upon. While our immediate actions manifest through our daily routines, habits, and behaviors. Our immediate actions reflect what we truly want. They’re the tiny choices we make daily. How and when we wake up or go to sleep, what we do upon waking, how we spend our days, etc. Immediate actions aren’t tied to our idealistic wants because we haven’t acted upon them yet.
Everything in our life is exactly as we want it. Our lives are made up of small decisions that influence our reality. It’s not about what we idealistically want, but what we’re already doing. We can dream and wish all we want, but until we take immediate action, our lives may remain as they currently are. We are meant to evolve, grow, and mature as we go through life, but we won’t if we don’t take action. No matter how small that action may be, it’s pivotal to our growth journey.
How to Take Immediate Action
When we recognize that our immediate actions shape our lives, it’s important to observe the actions, habits, and behaviors of which we are and are not proud. If there are dreams, desires, and goals (including our idealistic wants) in our hearts and minds, we must assess what we’re currently doing to understand what we need to change to make those ideas happen. But before we evaluate our lives, we must take the first step!
Step One: Write it Down
The first step is to write everything down. Write down your dreams, desires, goals, and idealistic wants. What do you want your life to look like? Write every wish, hope, and aspiration. Include the things that seem impossible and out of reach. Write it all down and understand that this is you already taking immediate action. This isn’t a random “New Year’s Resolution” practice, where you write a few things down and forget about it three weeks later. This is you breaking free from feeling that newness only at the beginning of the month. It’s you acting upon the dreams ad goals that were cooped up inside your head and heart.
Step Two: Evaluate Your Life
Once you’ve poured everything out onto a page or two, the next step is to set it aside and evaluate your life as it is right now. Take a look at your morning and evening routines; your daily habits; your eating patterns; your phone usage; the way you talk; your attitude; your relationships; etc. Everything you can think of to its truest form and as it is present in your life. You can write this out on a sheet of paper if you’d like or you could just think about it all (writing is most helpful for me because it helps me get specific). This step is crucial because it will help you pinpoint your next move.
Step Three: Improve One Thing
Once you’ve written and/or thought about your life as it is right now, the third step is to improve one thing. Just one. What is one thing you could do today and this week that will help you get closer to any of the goals and dreams you wrote on the first page? Is it waking up at a certain time? Is it going to the gym and eating healthier? Is it writing one page every day or writing for ten minutes? Is it reading the Bible or helpful books? Once you improve one area, move on to the next at your own pace. Refer to your page one (from step one), do a quick assessment (for step two), and take on the next thing (for step three).
For example, I enjoy going to the gym and working out. I feel more energized, rejuvenated, and stronger when I exercise. However, 2023 was challenging to stay consistent and committed to working out because of traveling for work. After completing step one and being more aware of my dreams and desired lifestyle, step two helped me recognize what habits and behaviors I developed that made it hard to stay committed to working out (even when I traveled). For step three, I improved this one thing by committing to daily walks if I could not go to the gym. This helped me become mindful of my priorities. If health and fitness are a priority, truly, then I have no excuses.
Conclusion
This method is exciting and helpful! It also helps us stop relying on the calendar to make changes in our lives and to create our life at our own pace. We often forget that our lives are moldable and malleable (for what is within our control). Our lives are a direct reflection of our daily choices, habits, and behaviors. If we want a certain lifestyle, we can change it. It just takes some reflection, assessment, and immediate actions to make those changes.
Proverbs 19:2 says, desire without knowledge is not good, and whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way. Our desires (the ones connected to our dreams, lifestyle aspirations, and goals) are meant to be actualized. By taking initiative and intentionally working on steps one through three, we obtain knowledge for how to take immediate action. By improving one area at a time, we are careful and thoughtful with the process, because this is our lives we’re talking about. We don’t act in haste and miss our way, but commit our steps to God as we steward and grow in each area of our lives.
In conclusion, as we navigate the journey of self-improvement and goal achievement, let’s liberate ourselves from the notion that a mere flip of the calendar can magically transform our lives or help us stay motivated throughout the month. The power lies not in the date but in our daily actions, choices, behaviors, and habits.
By embracing the three-step process outlined here—writing down our dreams, evaluating our current lifestyle, and making incremental improvements—we empower ourselves to sculpt the life we truly desire. It’s a deliberate, thoughtful approach that ensures we don’t rush hastily, but we walk with purpose, aligning our steps with our dreams. As Proverbs wisely advises, let our desires be coupled with knowledge, and let us tread intentionally, committed to stewarding our lives and growing in every area of life.
The calendar may mark time, but it is our immediate actions that craft the story of our lives.
tanyaremkiv 
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