Welcome to 2007! Let’s talk about your New Years Resolutions (NYRs). Seems timely. I’m bored by the usual suspects like “Get in shape” or “Make more money” so I want to talk about NYRs with true gusto, the kind that make you throw up your jazz hands! The kind that make you think, “I wish I’d thought of that!” Some of my favorites (feel free to steal; I have) include:
- Get more sleep;
- Eat dairy in all its forms;
- Be more imperfect;
- Subscribe to People magazine;
- Sign a petition;
- Say “Yes!” more often;
- Tip my barrista $1 every Tuesday.
I love these NYRs because they don’t call for the sponsor to graft a radically new habit or persona onto who they are. How is a person supposed to get to the gym three days a week, when they’ve never done it before and it’s all they can do to get home at a reasonable hour five days a week?
We are all busy people - captains of industry, YP’s making their mark, community leaders and arts pros. Don’t waste your time and NYRs on things that you’re NOT. Truly great NYRs honor your spirit, and call on you to simply become even better/fuller versions of who you already are. Of course, this requires that you lead an examined life, that you’ve identified for yourself:
- What’s working that you’d like to do more of?
- What’s not working that you need to do less of? Letting go is central to creating more time and energy for things you truly enjoy (women, this one is especially written for you. Let go of the idea that the laundry has to be done every week. The laundry only needs to be done when you’re out of undies).
- What do you need to change or re-frame in order to lead a more useful life?
Like many of you, I’m consciously on my path of self-knowledge and self-mastery. I’m turning over the stones in my life, letting go of some things that no longer further me (responding to every last-minute media request) and re-framing a couple things that need to be tweaked (free-styling - see below). Just being alert to my daily habits and considering whether they work or not is an enormous practice. Enter at your own risk.
Back to Free-styling. Free-styling is term I’ve just adopted. I use it to describe chunks of time for which I have no agenda, just an intention to be positive and productive. For example, I’m free-styling right now… using my morning to blog and clean up my home office so that I can hit the ground running when NGC re-opens tomorrow. For me, free-styling is sort of like uber-putzing - having an intention to get stuff done, but having the latitude to change course as needed, and gravitate towards the things I’m drawn to in the moment. Free-styling is good for my soul.
So my NYR is to Free-style. What’s yours?
Happy New You! Pass the Ben ‘n Jerry’s.
