Skip to main content

to resolve or to skip the resolutions, that is the question

there's a distinct anti-new year's day resolution movement. the idea is that resolutions set you up to fail, or that one should live a life that you're proud of all year long.

that's nice. and i do that.

however, there is something about setting goals and measuring success against them that ignites the human spirit in a different way than just letting life happen.

there is a way to use resolutions to punish myself and do more harm than good. we all know that.

there is also a middle place where we "aim for the moon" and land among the stars to paraphrase W. Clement Stone's oft-quoted thought. i like starry skies so i'll take the time today to reflect on the year past, assess what went well and identify what i'd like to do differently. then i can adjust my aims in 2011 and i even allow myself flexibility during the year. yes, this day is arbitrary, and in fact was never always the "first" day of the year. it does however serve in many societal dealings as the start date of each revolution of the planet. so there. i'm going to trust the wisdom of our planet's decision to turn again.

i'm aiming to eat better, sleep better, work more effectively and build stronger relationships with the core people in my life including my co-workers, family and friends. i listed co-workers first because i spend most of my life time with them, though my love and attachment is more aimed at family and friends. i want more quality time with family and friends in 2011. i guess at my age i'm tender to the fragility of time.

i do have my own personal measures of success around these things, however, suffice to say here that i want to keep focus throughout the year on these resolutions.

whichever way you go on this resolve or no resolutions topic, may you have a year filled with dreams come true in life and work.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It Gets Better

I spent some time watching the It Gets Better videos last night. Moving stuff. My favorite is the singing from the Chicago Gay Men's Chorus. It's wild how song works. The world needs all our talents. I'm good at storytelling. I'm good at helping humans align their being with their doing. To get really good at what I do, I constantly have to get better at aligning my own being with my doing. It's hard work. I think our careers help us focus on our deepest wounding as human beings, and as we get better, we develop power in that very area where we're broken. We get stronger than most other humans around that and we can GIVE that strength to others to help them along on the human journey. And that's our career. I think firemen saw some hopeless stuff growing up and are COMPELLED to run into burning buildings to do the impossible task of saving someone from fire. Nurses run TO broken bones and tend to them. I run to broken souls: I see someone struggling wi...
Post a Comment
Read more

I came home HAPPY tonight

Life will never be perfect. I left the office today with a pile of "to-do" on my desk that makes my head spin. And yet, I carved out time today to do the following: 1. have a powerful yet shortened work out this morning that cleared my head and got my blood pumping. When I hit the office this morning, I hit it hard and strong, muscling through an anxiety of mammoth proportion about how I was going to get ANYTHING on my plate done. 2. pause and do networking at an industry conference. That raised my sights, beyond my little desk and day to day concerns and showed me the bigger picture. Seeing folks at a career fair quickly snapped me back to reality: I'm lucky to have a job I love in the industry I am most fond of, and in the function I care deeply about, working with people on my team I love and with colleagues to serve whom I respect. Bollywog that it's overwhelming: I'll find healthy, collaborative ways to slog through this period. 3. I managed my netw...
Post a Comment
Read more

When you can no longer bear the pain

When you can no longer bear the pain, bare your teeth. Wince: yeah, predatory animals will probably notice and turn you into appetizer, however, it gives your body the visceral response that generates the natural defenses. Grrr: it's than lion-baring show of powerful biting tools that let's others know you have the chops to turn yumminess into nutrition. Wink. Smile: sometimes it's a forced smile.  Sometimes it's a zen-like smile of acceptance and sometimes it's shadowed with a Cheshire-whimsy.  My doctor kept saying through my Odyssey-like journey over the past few days from "horrible breathing noises" to something he felt safe sending me home with, that it was my smile that was his ultimate measure of my health.  The untrained eye knows your true warm loving irrepressible smile and that it comes from a deep pleasure source. Socially, we're trained to at least respect the forced smile.  We may be sure of, and respond subtly to an ANGRY force...
Post a Comment
Read more