Don’t look now, but January is over. Remember how excited you were when the month began? There were all those resolutions, goals, and projects you were going to complete. Now the month is over and very few of them, if any, have been accomplished.

I don’t know if the weather has anything to do with it. But when we lived in Wisconsin, January was the coldest, darkest, longest month of the year. I thought it would never end. But ever since we’ve lived in Florida the month flies by.

It certainly happened to me. There are still things sitting on my desk and lurking in my computer that I wanted to have finished by now (Check this one out! It’s going to be so cool when I finally start using it). The saddest part of it is that there are some organizational things I wanted to accomplish. January is over and I’m still trying to get myself organized.

But here’s what I want to tell you if you’ve fallen behind (and remind myself at the same time):

• It’s OK. Life isn’t a sprint. It’s a marathon. There’s still time.
• Calendars are arbitrary. Even though we use January 1st as a time of new beginnings, that’s really a human invention. If you didn’t start what you wanted to on that day, do so on February 1st.
• Don’t feel guilty. There were most certainly things you accomplished this past month, even if they weren’t all the things on your list. Sometimes life happens and other things take priority.

But now:

• Consider February a new beginning. There’s no time like the present to start. Do it today.
• Sometimes the first step is all it takes. Write down that goal. Organize that desk. Complete a small task. Write the first page. Just watch how that makes you consistently move forward.
• Remember that there are still eleven whole months in this year. Even though calendars are arbitrary, they can be helpful when keeping track of things. You can accomplish a great deal in 11/12’s of a year. So get going.

January is over. But the year is still young. Stop beating yourself up and get started. There are wonderful accomplishments in front of you.

What are you going to accomplish this year?