If you treated each year of your life like a football game, New Years would be the 1st quarter and Thanksgiving and Christmas would be the 4th quarter.

In a football game, there are two things that are critical for winning:

1. Getting off to a good start

2. Finishing strong in the 4th quarter

Most people I know, me included, have mastered the art of getting off to a good start.  We are all practically brainwashed into playing the New Years resolution game.  Playing this game is a great way to get the year off to a good start by setting a goal to change your life.

On the flip side, we all end the year relaxing a bit too much.  Most people put off starting any new routines or setting new goals until the New Year.  Instead, we spend October through December putting on 5 to 15 pounds (among other bad habits that set in) forgetting about any New Years resolution we set 10-12 months prior.

If this was a football game, we would all risk losing every game if we performed like this. Starting the game with an early lead then consistently losing the 4th quarter has never been a recipe for a championship team.

This year, I’m challenging myself to do something different.  I want to win the 4th quarter.

Instead of putting 5 pounds on as a result of Thanksgiving and Christmas, I am going to lose 5 pounds.  Instead of waiting to New Years to set goals, I am setting goals and working to achieve them now.  Instead of forgetting about my new years resolutions, I am dusting them off and doing whatever it takes to meet them before year end.

I will still use the New Year to start strong, however I’m not going to allow the opportunity to start fresh in the new year blind me of my opportunity to take full advantage of the current year.

Remember, games are never won in the 1st quarter, but they are always won or lost in the 4th.