10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1! Happy New Year!!! Alright, you’ve made it. If you aren’t too nauseated from “enjoying” yourself last night, you have officially made it to that frightful day. This is the day that you have to deliver on all those crazy promises you made. Thank goodness you didn’t tell anybody else about them. Don’t worry! I won’t tell anybody that you have no intention of fulfilling those resolutions. You will, like last year, make an honorable effort. It’s ok. I understand. You were busy. Sometimes life gets in the way. The best laid plans…
Don’t feel too guilty. It’s not just you. We all have this problem. Our society has brainwashed us. We are expected to monumental change in one day. On December 31 we vow to change all that we are forever more. Habits that have tethered us for years are expected to disappear in one day. Sounds great, but it isn’t very realistic. We blindly follow the status quo. Because it takes 3 minutes to get dinner, we feel all of our personal ails can be cured instantly. Isn’t there a resolution fulfillment drive through?
Unfortunately, the way we get our coffee, our food and our messages isn’t the way we change. Change is slow. It takes time. It takes effort. Unfortunately, it is also hard. What we need is a New Year’s Resolution Revolution. We need to revolt against the practice of changing who we are in one monumental day. We need to revolt against a process that frankly isn’t working out very well. Instead of thinking about what we should do differently for one day, we should think about what we should do differently every day. Instead of making New Year’s resolution on one day, we should make them every day.
Our resolve to improve should be consistent, persistent and pervasive. Our desire to get better should consume us. Think of what we could accomplish if we committed to get better every day of every year. The changes that we had expected to occur in an instant would happen over time. Change in this way is more likely to stick. It is more likely to last longer than a week. The type of change that happens as a result of every day effort is lasting. That type of fundamental change won’t be undone in a week.
This year, start you resolution revolution. Start your fundamental change. Start your process of improvement every day of every year. Don’t limit your opportunities to improve to just one day. Starting today, revolt!
doc mu