The One-Resolution New Year
Everyone is writing about their resolutions this week and I've read many of the articles with interest and have decided to stick with my tried and true approach: keep it simple. I've explained myself before, but here's a reminder in case you missed that post.
I've never been a person to make many New Year's Resolutions.
One year I made a goal of getting rid of all ill-fitting clothes. That was big for me, and, I'm happy to say, I pretty much nailed it (as long as you don't count owning socks that "quit" midday).
Aside from that, I stick with a single resolution per year routine. And, most of the time, it's the same resolution: Try something new every day.
That's it.
I didn't say it was an impressive resolution, just a consistent one. Some of the options you can look to for switch ups are:
- Take a new route to work
- Eat a new food
- Wear your scarf a different way
- Partner with someone new on a work project
- Engage in a conversation you've been avoiding
- Rearrange a room, desk, study area, closet, drawer
- Cook something different
- Buy a new brand of an item
- Purge something you've been holding onto
- Listen to an artist you've never heard of
- Send money to a different charity
- Learn a new computer program
- Download a new app (and USE it!)
- Switch up how you run a meeting
- Pick a different person to lunch with
- Replace a standard unhealthy snack with a healthy one (see how that feels!!)
- Order a different drink at Starbucks (this is a stretch for many of us)
- Read a new book, blog, magazine
You get the idea.
My logic for this simplistic approach is three-fold. Trying new things helps me to...
1. Become more intentional.
Thinking through and acting on something new makes me pay attention to what I'm doing now. The benefit of noticing my actions is I become better positioned to make different choices. When I make different choices, change is the natural outcome.
2. Be comfortable with change.
There's something about trying something new that infuses my attitude with a little dose of courage. When I'm faced with a challenge, I don't just think, "ugh" I also think, "Ah ha! An opportunity to keep my resolution!" (Silly, I know!)
3. Create growth opportunities.
Every time I try something new, I'm stretched just a little. Sometimes it's my creativity, other times it's my management style, many times it's my taste buds! Still, in all of those areas, I grow ever so slightly. And, as I've said before, people don't change, they grow.
Feel free to play along!
Oh - and if you do, be sure to tell someone what your resolution is. I have a friend Mark who makes a habit of asking, "what did you do new TODAY?" Even though I only see him sporadically, I think about what I'd say to him should we cross paths. This helps keep me accountable.
Now I better go tackle my sock drawer...