resolu-SHUN
Because good intentions don’t pay the bills...
A new year. A big deal... or is it?
Lately, I've been thinking about good intentions, New Year's resolutions, and my disdain for both.
Truth is, I often worry about worrying. I have exhilaration for new ideas and projects, and am simultaneously stifled by fear. And as a card carrying introvert, I marinate in melancholy reflection.
Can you relate?
To combat my own self-defeating tendencies past and present, I've organized my 30+ years of experience, education, successes, set backs, and lessons learned from failures to create a set of principles and success strategies I call Communichology™ -- teaching from the unique vantage point where communication skills and psychology collide.
Through my “Seeing Things” publication, 16IMAGING photography, and the Sound Matters Show podcast, I teach the 5% how to get unstuck and out of ruts; to recover and retain their personal and professional EDGE to get ahead.
So in this spirt, resolve to make NO resolutions this new year, or any other “new” year.
It’s an exercise in futility. Why? Because if you feel a “resolution” is the necessary impetus to initiate the changes you deem important, then you’re already in arrears.
A resolution is nothing more than a well-intentioned promise that you voice. Specific action should precede any proclamation.
The root word of resolution is resolute, which means admirably purposeful, determined, and unwavering.
Someone truly resolute about making changes does not delay it, nor announce it only at the beginning of a new year.
Any good intentions to improve or grow should be incorporated year round, and not be tied to some specific date on the calendar.
There’s nothing more magical about January 1st than July 1st, or October 31st.
Any “magic” happenings typically occur outside of one’s comfort zone on any various date.
Good intentions don’t pay the bills. It’s about action over apprehension.
So here's my first message on this first day of the new year: resolve to make no resolutions this new year, or any other “new” year.
Why not?
Because it's counter-productive.
It sets you up for disappointment if you fail to accomplish all of your good intentions. Resolutions are typically too big, over-generalized, not time specific, and unrealistic. It's a recipe for producing the exact opposite of what you think you want.
What to do instead:
Set small, but deliberate DAILY goals that are challenging, but doable.
What can you accomplish in one day, see your progress, and feel good about?
Doing it this way builds and keeps momentum. It's empowering whereas lofty, ill-defined, big-picture goals often serve to do the opposite.
For example, I embrace physical fitness, so one doable but challenging goal I have is to do 100 push-ups per day. I do them in small increments spread out throughout the day. The quick math of 100 push-ups per day totals 36,500 per year.
Even if I were to fall short by 15-20 per day, I'm still cranking out over 30,000 push-ups annually. That's a shit ton of upper body resistance training that DOES produce results. Again, daily goals that are challenging, but doable, is the key.
Small shifts in lifestyle choices daily, over time, produces big changes. If this speaks to you, and if you think you can benefit from this type of coaching, encouragement, and challenge, then keep coming back.
So SHUN the resolution…
Happy New Year!
Agree or disagree; just no apathy.
Stay tuned-in…
Elevate your strategic communication skills with mindset and psychology insights paired with images from my published photography collections (you pick what you pay): “21 Days of Distinction” (ebook)