I'm in my garage right now doing something that in years past, I would've saved for January 1st. Not because it makes sense to wait... but because that's what society tells us to do.

I've got my Honda Element up on jack stands. Haven't driven it in months. There's a list of maintenance items that keeps growing. New radiator. New alternator. A camper conversion I've been planning in my head for over a year. And every time I walk past it, I tell myself the same thing: "I'll get to it soon."

Except I'm not waiting anymore.

I recently drove 3,000 miles round trip to bring my 1992 Acura Integra GS-R home from Colorado where it had been sitting at my parents' house for nearly a decade. The car had already been there for ten years... not saying I am a professional procrastinator… but that’s some serious putting it off energy, right?

On my drive back I kept thinking about how long I had put it off and how good it felt to be getting it back home. The date on the calendar doesn't actually matter. We just pretend it does to make ourselves feel organized.

Here's the thing about New Year's resolutions that nobody wants to admit: they're procrastination dressed up as ambition. We've collectively agreed that January 1st is some magical reset button that makes us more likely to succeed. But really, it just gives us permission to delay the things we're scared of or unsure about. The calendar becomes the excuse.

I know this because I've done it for years. Every December, I'd make a mental list of all the things I was going to tackle "once the new year starts." The cars that needed work. The organizing I needed to do. The healthier choices I was going to make. But January 1st always felt like the right time to begin. Clean slate. Fresh start. New year, new me, and all that garbage.

Except January 1st would come and I'd still be exhausted from the holidays. Still filled with anxiety. Still overwhelmed. And suddenly February 1st started looking like a better launch date. Then March. Then "maybe when the weather gets better." And the cycle would repeat.

The truth is, there's never a perfect time to start anything. Not your project car. Not your business. Not your creative thing. Not whatever resolution you're already planning for 2025. The perfect moment doesn't exist. We just use arbitrary dates to convince ourselves it does.

Your cars don't care what month it is. They just sit there getting worse while we wait for the right time to start. Every day of delay is another day of rust, another day of seals drying out, another day of that problem getting more expensive. My Integra sat for ten years because I kept telling myself I'd deal with it "someday." Someday when I had a garage. Someday when I had more money. Someday when I knew more about cars.

Someday never comes. You just get older and your excuses get more sophisticated.

So here's what actually happened: I stopped waiting. I cleared just enough space in my garage to make room. Not the whole garage. Not a perfectly organized shop. Just enough space to get the Element on jack stands and start working. I didn't wait for ideal conditions or the perfect date. I moved.

And here's the confession part: I haven't driven my Element in months because I've been avoiding the maintenance it needs. It's not a huge job. I’ve got a pile of parts ready to go on. But I kept putting it off because I told myself I'd "do it right" once I had more time. Once the holidays were over. Once I could really focus.

But that's just fear talking. Fear that I'll start and not finish. Fear that I'll mess something up. Fear that it won't turn out the way I want it to. So I dressed that fear up as "being strategic" and "waiting for the right time." But my Element has been sitting there judging me every single day.

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The garage is still a mess. I don't have all the tools I need. I'm learning as I go. But the Element is up on jack stands right now and I'm actually working on it. Not in January. Today. Because today is just as good as any other day, and the only thing special about January 1st is that we all agreed to pretend it matters.

This isn't just about cars. It's about how we use artificial markers to avoid starting things. We wait for Monday to start the diet. We wait for the first of the month to start the budget. We wait for the new year to finally do the thing we've been talking about for months. But all of those dates are made up. They're constructs we created to organize time, not magic portals that make hard things easier.

The calendar is a tool, not a requirement. And we keep giving it way too much power over our lives.

What if you started your resolution today? Not in some aggressive "just do it" motivational poster way, but in a genuine "the date doesn't actually matter, your readiness does" way. What if you cleared just enough space, gathered just enough resources, and took the first small step right now instead of waiting for January 1st to give you permission?

In my experience finally bringing my Integra home and getting my Element off the ground: starting is the hardest part, and no date on the calendar makes it easier. The resistance you feel today is the same resistance you'll feel on January 1st. The fear doesn't magically disappear because you waited. The work doesn't get simpler. The only thing that changes is that you've lost more time.

Every car person I know has a project they're "going to start" someday. A build they've been planning. A rare part they've been dreaming about. A modification they've been mapping out for months. And almost all of them are waiting for the perfect moment that will never come. They're waiting for more money, more space, more knowledge, more time. They're waiting for January 1st.

But progress doesn't require perfection. It just requires movement. And movement can start any day you want it to.

My Integra is home. It's not running perfectly yet. The garage is still chaotic. I'm still figuring things out as I go. But it's here, and I'm working on it, and that's infinitely better than it sitting in Colorado for another year while I waited for the "right time" to go get it.

My Element is on jack stands. The maintenance isn't done yet. I don't have everything organized the way I want it. But I'm making progress in December, not planning to make progress in January. And that distinction matters more than you'd think.

So here's my challenge to you: What are you waiting until January 1st to start that you could start this weekend? What resolution are you already planning that could begin today? What project car, creative pursuit, or life change are you delaying because you've convinced yourself the calendar matters?

The calendar is made up. The date is arbitrary. The only thing that actually matters is whether or not you decide to move.

I'm not waiting for January 1st anymore. I'm done giving the calendar that much power over my life. And if reading this gives you permission to start your thing today instead of in three weeks, then this whole messy, chaotic, imperfect process was worth it.

Your car is waiting. Your project is waiting. Your resolution is waiting.

The calendar isn't stopping you. You are.

So stop waiting for January 1st to give you permission to start. The date doesn't matter. Your movement does.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got an Element to get back on the road.

Progress is perfection.

-Nick
Founder, PURSUIT OF SOMETHING

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