Put a Date on It or Stop Talking About It

December 30, 2025

Everyone knows I am not a fan of New Year resolutions. They show up at the safest moment of the year, when optimism is high and accountability is low. Still, every January, I watch individuals and businesses do the same thing. They talk about what they want next without deciding when it will actually happen. That hesitation is where good goals quietly lose their power.

In practice, this is where momentum separates from stagnation. The people and organizations that make progress are not more inspired. They simply decide sooner. They stop debating possibilities and start committing to timelines. The ones that stay stuck keep the conversation open indefinitely, mistaking flexibility for progress.

Some goals move easily because time is already decided for you. I got into the London Marathon at the very end of 2024. The race was April 27, 2025. That date removed negotiation. The plan followed the calendar, not my mood. Business works the same way. Contracts succeed because they have start dates, milestone deadlines, and end dates. Execution becomes disciplined when time is defined.

The goals that struggle are the ones without edges. Build a new revenue stream. Grow the business. Buy the house. Take the trip. These goals sound ambitious, but without a date, they drift. They lose to meetings and inboxes at work, and to daily logistics, obligations, and distractions at home. Over time, they lose momentum instead of turning into outcomes.

Here is what actually happens when goals stay undefined. They do not collapse all at once. They hang around unfinished, competing for your attention and energy while never moving forward. That constant drag is what makes people feel stuck, even when they are busy. The way out is not more effort. It is turning the goal into something concrete enough to act on.

• Pick the date. Not a season, not a quarter, not “sometime this year.” Choose a specific day and time so the goal has a real place on your calendar.

• Lock the date in with a commitment. Put money down, book the travel, sign the agreement, block the calendar, or announce it publicly so backing out carries a cost.

• Design the path by working backward from the date. Map the specific actions that must be completed at each stage, so execution is deliberate rather than reactive.

• Create accountability checkpoints before the deadline. Decide in advance when you will pause to evaluate progress, surface risks, and make course corrections instead of waiting until the end to see what happened.

• Name an accountability person and define their role. Choose someone who will check in, ask hard questions, and hold you to the commitment.

• Decide how you will mark completion. Reward yourself, savor the win, then move on so momentum continues.

2026 will move fast. New year’s always do. The difference is whether you will spend it reacting or collecting wins. Pick one goal, personal or professional. Put a real date and time on it. Commit to the structure that supports it. That is how momentum starts. Not with a resolution. With goals added to the calendar.

One last thing before I close this out. This is not the end of this conversation. Consider me, your virtual accountability fan, the one who will keep asking where the date is, what moved this week, and what you stopped avoiding. Goals deserve more than good intentions and yearly check-ins. I will keep coming back to this because execution is where most people lose momentum. If you are willing to keep putting dates on the things that matter, I will keep pushing you to follow through.

Ask yourself right now. What in your life “still” does not have a date? Then decide how you will revise it for a better outcome.