The turn of the year, of the calendar, always seems to bring the feeling of a new beginning, of new possibilities, of a blank page ready to be written. Each start of the year brings with it an almost automatic expectation of change. People set new goals, examine what went wrong, chart different paths, and eventually convince themselves that this time everything will be different. Motivation appears strong, fueled by the hope of a better year and the conviction that it is enough to want to transform reality itself.
January is consolidated as the month of promises. Promises to take better care of your health, to change your habits, to resume old projects, to be more productive, more concentrated, more disciplined. During the first weeks, energy supports important decisions. There is enthusiasm, planning, drive and a real sense of commitment to the new. The problem is that real life does not respect the symbolic climate at the start of the year. It requires consistency, commitment and continuity, regardless of initial excitement.
As the days go by, routine begins to take over again. Work demands more, commitments pile up, fatigue appears and unforeseen events arise. Motivation, which previously seemed inexhaustible, begins to weaken. This is precisely when many processes are interrupted. People abandon what they have started, abandon newly created habits and continue to expect results that, in this way, will never come. The residence time was too short to generate a real effect or a coherent transformation.
There is a widely held, but erroneous, idea that we must be motivated to act. As if motivation were a constant force, capable of sustaining any change over time. The reality is that it is emotional, unstable and deeply influenced by context. When you rely on it exclusively, you enter a predictable cycle: you start excited, difficulties arise, the stimulus diminishes, and, shortly after, everything stops. Then comes frustration and the false conclusion that the problem lies in lack of personal capacity, when in reality this is the strategy adopted.
What few people understand is that results are not built on motivation, but on consistency. Consistency is not visually appealing, does not generate euphoria, and does not provide immediate rewards. She doesn’t appear in photos, doesn’t give inspiring speeches, and is rarely celebrated. Consistency lives in ordinary days, in tiring days, in days where there is no desire, no recognition, no newness. It is in these silent days that the process really takes place.
Maintaining consistency doesn’t mean doing everything perfectly or maintaining maximum intensity throughout the year. This means continuing even when enthusiasm wanes. It’s about adjusting expectations, adapting the pace, respecting boundaries and moving forward. You have to understand that there will be days where you give less, and days where you give more, but the commitment to the process remains. Progress does not come from emotional peaks, but from the conscious repetition of small choices made over time.
When we look at who is actually supporting change, it becomes clear that it is not the most motivated people who go the furthest. They are the ones who build real commitment to the process. People who understand that discipline is not extreme rigidity, but responsibility for what has been decided. Who knows that consistency is not about doing too much at times, but about doing enough, as much as possible, over the months.
Perhaps the biggest challenge at the start of the year is not creating new goals, but maintaining old decisions. Don’t wait until you feel the will to act, but act despite the lack of will. Life doesn’t change in January, nor does it resolve itself in a few weeks. It’s a change from ordinary days, where no one is watching, where motivation has disappeared and the choice to continue becomes more important than the enthusiasm of the beginning.
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