When Is the Best Time to Start Working Toward Your Fitness Goals?

Kurtis Proksch
Aug 25, 2025
2 min read

We’ve all said it before:

“I’ll start after the holidays.”
“Once things slow down at work.”
“I’ll get serious in January.”
“Monday. Definitely Monday.”

There’s something comforting about the idea of a fresh start — a clean slate. A new year. A new month. A new week.

But here’s the truth: Waiting for the “perfect” time is one of the biggest reasons people never actually get started.

The Myth of the Perfect Starting Point

There’s a quiet story we tell ourselves: “Once life calms down, I’ll finally be able to focus.”

But life rarely “calms down.” There’s always another project, event, vacation, family situation, or stressor waiting in the wings.

If you’re waiting for the stars to align… you might be waiting for years.

And even if you do pick a symbolic date like January 1st, that doesn’t guarantee success. In fact, most New Year’s resolutions are abandoned by February. Why?

Because most people try to change everything at once — and life pushes back.

Fitness Takes Time — So Don’t Waste It Waiting

Here’s the part no one loves to hear:

Losing weight takes time.
Building muscle takes time.
Getting stronger takes time.
Creating new habits takes time.

There are no shortcuts. Even if you’re doing everything right, real, lasting progress happens slowly — over weeks, months, and years.

So every time you delay your start by another week, month, or “after this season,” you’re just pushing your future results even further away.

What You Can Do Instead: Start Small. Start Now.

Instead of waiting for a perfect window, start where you are — today — with what you can control.

You don’t need to overhaul your entire life. In fact, you shouldn’t.

Start with one small thing:

Go for a 10-minute walk every day.
Add one serving of vegetables to your lunch.
Do a 30-minute strength session twice a week.
Drink more water.

One habit won’t change your life overnight. But stacking small habits over time will.

You build momentum. You gain confidence. And before you know it, those “small” actions turn into real results.

Why This Approach Works Better

Here’s why starting now — with small, realistic actions — works better than any “New Year’s resolution” ever could:

No pressure to be perfect. You’re just focusing on one thing at a time.
You build real habits. Not crash-diets. Not 30-day all-or-nothing plans. Just sustainable behavior change.
You adapt to real life. You’re learning how to stay consistent even when life is messy, which is the whole point.
You start compounding results sooner. The sooner you begin, the sooner those slow, steady changes start to add up.