Man, what a crazy holiday season it’s been – I don’t think I’ve ever been so busy in all my life! I mean, it was all hands on deck 24/7; super-crazy-nutty-busy-wild holiday madness! But here we are, all together in 2012 – we survived, we indulged and (I hope) we all had a good time. Now that we’re trudging on into the new year, it dawned on me (while I was writing my lead blog for the week on “Clever Ideas”) that New Year’s simply isn’t New Year’s without the obligatory New Year’s Resolutions. It’s something we have all done before, and I have a sneaking suspicion we’ll all do it again in the future. But when you sit down to make your resolutions, are they easy or do they challenge you? Are they the kind that will help to make you a better person or are they no-brainers that require little or no thought or effort in achieving? When you consider the gravity of what your resolution will be, think like this: if it’s important enough it won’t always be easy. Think about that for a second…
That little thought above was given to me by a coworker; I was really struck by the profound nature of it, that by making it meaningful and important, it has more gravity and relevance in your life and how you will relate to and benefit from the resolution. yeah, it’s kind of a big thought, and a mouthful, but really, the concept is quite simple. It’s not difficult to make yourself a promise or set yourself a goal that’s easy to reach or achieve – we do it all the time, usually daily. Things like getting to work a few minutes early, or getting home to make dinner and have some down time, or leaving work early to meet friends for drinks – these are all easily met goals and don’t really challenge oneself to take ones ability to grow and learn from life experiences and bump things up a notch. Even resolutions like sticking to a diet or exercising more often aren’t helpful if you don’t get specific and outline what the resolution entails, the beginning, middle and end – if any – of the goal. personally I avoid making New Year’s Resolutions because I try to make such acts of volition on a regular basis, and not hold myself to a special day or date to imagine, realize and process the goal. If I’m living my life right, I should be able to make my goals and resolutions on a regular basis through out the year, on any given day. If they are of value and have importance or meaning, they should happen all year long and not just on New Year’s.
My wish for you in this new year is that you realize that life is far more meaningful and precious when you seek to strive for goals that challenge you, that give you a sense of value in your accomplishment, and are meant to make a better human being out of who you currently are. We all have room for improvement, so here’s a chance to make a resolution to MAKE RESOLUTIONS year-round, regularly. Demand more of yourself in a way that will strengthen your psyche, embolden your resolve, and provide you an opportunity to transform yourself into someone you can look at at the end of the day and feel successful in your endeavors. Becuase when you really get down to brass tacks, you have to answer to yourself in all your words and deeds, so when you look at yourself in the mirror at the end of the day, can you say, definitely, that you did your best? Isn’t that the true measure of success? What a revelation!