Your Tomorrow Needs You Today

There is tremendous power in today. There's no power in yesterday, nor is there power in tomorrow. That's the strange part about how so many people spend most of their waiting hours - thinking about yesterday or tomorrow, but not so much today.

Today, you have the power to change tomorrow.

Today, you have the power to rectify yesterday.

Absolutely anything you want in your life can be started today. It can't be started yesterday, that ship has already sailed. Technically, it can be started tomorrow but, as you well know, it won't be.

Today is the only day you can do anything.

Whatever you choose to do today will change your tomorrow. Sometimes that's literally the case, while at other times that "tomorrow" is days, weeks, months or years from now. For example, if you start walking and drinking water on a daily basis today, and just don't ever stop, continuing to do it everyday - it's just something you do now - you will reap the benefits years from now. Your tomorrow self of next week might not have a reason to thank you for doing that exercise or drinking a few glasses of water, but your tomorrow self two years from now will be ecstatic...and healthier than you would have been had you not done it.

The reason many people fall short of their goals, whether they be life goals, health goals, or work goals, is because they don't see the difference their actions make in just a day or a week or a month. That's what trips most people up. They get impatient. They want to see something changed now. And when they don't see it now, they simply quit.

The people who do make these little habits part of their daily lives, even if they cannot see the benefits right away, do one thing differently.

It's not about motivation or inspiration. It's not about having a coach or accountability partner. It's not about willpower (whatever the hell that really is?!?). It's about having zero expectations.

Yes, you heard that right.

It might seem counter intuitive, but think about it for a moment.

If you get too caught up in your expectations, you will almost always be disappointed. However, if you go into doing these things with zero expectations, already knowing that they will work if you just keep consistently doing them, you'll never be disappointed, only pleasantly surprised somewhere down the line.

Think about something in your life that you've started and stopped over and over and over again, but never achieved. This might be something you've talked about doing, but never did anything about it, or it might be something that you've actually done and succeeded for a little while at, and then stopped. These are things you started at square one and, because you quit, you slipped backwards and were back at square one having to start over every time you didn't maintain or finish. This could be something personal, like getting more active to improve your health, or something professional, like acquiring new skill sets and finding the opportunities in which to demonstrate them so that you were a shoo-in for that promotion you would like.

If you decide to start doing an exercise routine, whether that's walking or running or doing yoga or going to a gym or simply watching some videos a couple times a week at home, you are not going to feel any different after your first, second, or tenth workout. I guarantee it! As a matter of fact, you will most likely feel a little more rotten than you did the day before because you're going to be sore and your muscles and joints are going to ache a bit.

If you understand that is both par for the course and normal, you will simply focus on the fact that doing it regularly will benefit 'future you' months, years, and decades from now...and that's it!

If you want to get that promotion you've been eyeing at work, do the things you need to do to 'up' your game. Don't just talk about them or think about them, do them! What you start working on today will get you further ahead tomorrow...and remember, 'tomorrow' might be six months or a year from now.

People will tell you that 'it's never too late.' Well, I hate to be one to break it to you, but that's sometimes a lie. Once you have lost your health because you didn't take care of your body and mind, there comes a point at which the chance to rectify that has passed. If you don't position yourself for that promotion, once it has been given to someone else, you may not have another chance.

The bottom line is, if you don't start today, you will never have what you say you want tomorrow. But if you DO start today, your future self will love you for it!

Photo by Jessica Lewis on Unsplash.

WRITTEN by Robin Sacks

Professionally, I am a Confidence Coach, speaker, author and motivator.

Personally, I am a mom, wife, and friend.

I live for bad puns and cozy mysteries.

Learn a lot more at https://www.robinjsacks.com.