New Year’s resolutions- love em, hate em, use em
New Year’s resolutions.
What feeling does that phrase conjure up for you? Annoyance? Frustration? Excitement? Most people fall into the annoyance/frustration camp. For most of my life I’ve been a card-carrying member of the annoyance crowd. I found New Year’s resolutions to be a ginned up trend that ultimately left most people frustrated or demoralised by February. Yet, it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, New Year’s resolutions can be a powerful tool to achieve your goals. We recently wrote a piece about this on the Slope blog.
So, as a reformed hater, why do I now believe in the power of New Year’s resolutions?
Because it is useful to have structure and a cadence to life. Most of us to this in our professional lives as companies are set up to operate in cycles- annually, quarterly, monthly, etc. We operate in a world of goals, deadlines, and deliverables. If you have kids, then you also have the school, activities, playdate cadence to manage. That doesn’t leave much time for you. While it can be hard, it is worthwhile to invest in creating your own personal structure and rhythm.
When I think about my moments of greatest happiness in life, I often find that it coincides with a sense of control and accomplishment. The times I struggle the most are when I feel like I got run over by the life truck.
In fact, I find it easier to survive the turbulent times when I have things that I can focus on and that give me a sense of accomplishment. An example of world-class basics is the Admiral McCraven book Make Your Bed: make you bed in the morning and you know that no matter what happens the rest of the day, you notched one accomplishment. It might seem trite, but I imagine it is very useful in the challenges of war.
That sense of accomplishment makes it easier to accept that something else isn’t going well. I’m then able to take a step back and see that life is a series of ups and downs and that the best perspective is to appreciate the journey. As Matthew McConaughey said in his book, you never know what today’s red light might turn into in the future (I just realised I quoted two Texas alums.. ugh).
That is why I like the idea of taking time at the beginning of the year to reflect and set new goals. It is a chance to put my own variables into the equation of life and make the journey better. Don’t miss the opportunity!
