I never make new year’s resolutions—I try to make a daily commitment.

I call a friend and we share our commitments. I might say, “Today I’m committing to writing at least 1000 words.” She’ll say, “Today I’m committing to going to the gym and working out for at least 30 minutes.” Here are 4 reasons why that works better.

We can’t change the world over the weekend–but we can change a small behavior that does change our world.

We speak our goals out-loud and that gives them bang and force.

When we hear ourselves speak we gain clarity. We’re not just daydreaming—we are taking positive steps. We are involved in reinvention, transformation.

Encouragement is a two-way street. (Hence the illustration.) En-courage is like em-power. By giving encouragement, we give courage. And get it back like winds behind our sails.

Today’s Commitment: Call a Friend. Share Your Commitment–just one thing you’re going to do today to unblock the pain, kindle the match, open the door, breathe the air, shut the door on past failures, flap your wings, try something new. Go on. Pick up that phone.

This post was inspired by Laura Vanderkam who wrote in a post that we have to substitute Someday for Monday. Meaning for right now, today, which is no longer Monday but Tuesday. Never too late. She has great ideas on time management — I interviewed her on my blog here.