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“It’s one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, three to get ready, three to get ready….”
-attribution unknown-
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Perhaps you’ve read or heard how New Year’s resolutions tend to go off the rails within a few weeks. The top-ten broken resolutions tend to include items like:

• Lose Weight and Get Fit
• Quit Smoking
• Learn Something New
• Eat Healthier
• Get Out of Debt and Save Money
• Spend More Time with Family
• Travel to New Places
• Be Less Stressed
• Volunteer
• Drink Less

But big intentions with minimal actions don’t end well.

My previous post on Purposeful Being examined the importance of recognizing, acknowledging, and being present. Meditation or focusing on one’s breathing helps. Both require fortitude. Both require practice.

In that post, yoga instructor Mary Beth Croom reminded us that we get good at what we do again and again.  “We practice hate and judgment, we get good at that. Practice forgiveness and love, and that’s what we get good at. It’s about awareness and practice.”

So, is your practice to achieve or avoid the goal?

Or as Thich Nhat Hanh has written, “What will you water? Garbage (anger, fear, discrimination, jealousy) or flowers (compassion, understanding, love)?”

Saying we will do something does not necessarily equate with doing that thing.

What’s your next step?

“One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready” requires at least one more step, “GO!” It takes practice. More practice. And maybe a little more practice.

How do you do it? What has helped you develop and nurture your practice?

©2026. Steve Piscitelli
The Growth and Resilience Network®
Atlantic Beach, Florida