Every year about this time, I find some “alone time” to recharge my batteries. I look back at the year that’s coming to an end, recalling what I’m grateful for, and I look ahead, thinking about how I want to make my way into a brand new year.
I don’t make new year’s resolutions, per se. But I do find it appealing to consider two questions:
What do I want to start doing, or do more often?
This time around, I find myself saying:
I want to go for longer and more frequent walks outside. I want to cook more often. I want to start a small garden. I want to ride my bike more often. I want to read even more than I do already (and that’s a lot!). I want to publish more Just in Time Leadership Series books. Maybe most important, I want to listen more, and talk less. (Oops – that should be filed under the next question!
What do I want to stop doing, or do less often?
I want to stop taking bad drivers or traffic snafus as seriously. I want to throw away or otherwise waste less food. I want to cut way back on worrying (because I keep learning that it isn’t doing me much good anyway!). I want to stop taking myself as seriously as I do.
Nothing earth-shattering. Nothing impossible to do.
For me, New Year’s Resolutions aren’t the time or place for S.M.A.R.T. goals (you know, specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound). There’s a time and place for those but this isn’t it.
This is a time to be grateful to be alive, to be hopeful about the future, and to be humble. That’s how I see it.
And you?
