After the Hangover: New Year's Resolutions 101



    
      EVERY YEAR, we create them. We write them. We recite them. We share them and spread them. We post them on our walls, in our cars, and at our desks. They are our resolutions, some call them goals, for the New Year. But not long thereafter, sometimes within the first weeks, we lose sight, fall short and find ourselves further back than where we began, destined to repeat the drudgery that prompted our list of, "must-haves," in the first place.

     So how do we keep our focus? Not lose sight? And ultimately, reach the Promised Land (new meaning, new beginning, new career, blah, blah, blah), that for some reason, seems so close, and at the same time, so out of reach?

     Answer: Practice.

     I know. Cliche, right? No-brainer, clearly. Not profound at all. But it is the simplicity of it all that is mind-boggling. It is not complexity that succeeds, but simplicity that prevails. When searching for the big goals of 2012, those life-altering, I-believe-I-can-fly aspirations, less is more. Whether you are a high-browed elitest, a new CEO, a budding entrepreneur or an enterprising college student, it is the simplicity of your craft, and excelling within it, that will separate you from the pack.

     Too many of us try to do too many things at once, hoping that something will, "stick." This process helps to insulate us from the impact of our failures by spreading out our losses. "Don't put all of your eggs in one basket," we've all heard. Good advice if you're the Easter Bunny; not if you're in the real world with a real purpose that requires all of your energy behind ONE goal or gift - whatever that may be.

     That doesn't mean you can't sing AND dance. That doesn't mean you can't run a company and be a spouse. That doesn't mean you can't be very talented in more than one area. However, it does mean that you must discover what your talent is, excel in it, and then use that, leverage that, position that, as the foundation for everything else. So, write the book, start the business, expand the idea, open the school, begin a new career, launch the venture and form the partnership. Then make room for the harvest of opporunities that will undoubtedly follow. My gift happens to be writing, so if you are comprehending one tenth of this, I'll consider myself on the right track :-).

     Nike said it best with, "Just Do It." Why? Because practice, when applied consistently, becomes progress. Progress, when achieved continually, becomes excellence. And excellence cannot be denied, or contained.

     Welcome 2012!