Resolutions, Evolutions, or Revolutions?

By Steve Gwisdalla

Happy New Year! With every new year’s comes a new list of resolutions. This year I am going to…lose weight, get my financial situation in order, get a new job, make amends, reconnect with friends or family. The list is new every year, yet old as time. Hope springs eternal and in that hope is happiness. For a while. I can speak from first-hand experience about the treadmill that by February was nothing more than a clothes repository. I can speak to the healthy foods purchased in January that was finally pulled out of the pantry or freezer later that year and tossed. I can speak to many-a-list that ended up torn, shredded and otherwise forgotten. My friends, let me ask a very simple question.

Why?

Why set yourself up for defeat by creating a wish list and calling it resolutions? This year, I am taking a different approach. My plan is not to make a list of hopes. It is to evolve. It is to evolve and revolt against the old Steve. Old Steve is exceptionally good at making lists that get completed to various percentages, but never reach 100%. Old Steve has great ideas that never see the light of day. Old Steve has great intentions but, well, dare I say crappy follow through. Enough. I am staging a coup. I have stormed the gates and ousted old Steve from power. Finally, enough is enough.

At a recent basketball game my son was playing in, I had a wonderful woman approach me about these articles and asked me a question I have not been asked before. She asked me,

“How much of you are really the articles you write? Are you that person 100% of the time?”

Her question really got me thinking. It was a thoughtful question, and she deserved an equally thoughtful answer. After a long pause, I answered her.

“I would honestly say around 80-85% of the time.” I am aware that I want to be that person 100% of the time, and I try for 100%. But then someone cuts me off in traffic and that person disappears for a little while.”

She smiled and thanked me for my honest answer. My friends, this article has been written to ask each of you the same question. How much of the time are you your best you? If you have not thought about this lately, I would ask you to have this be your attempt at personal revolution and evolution. Are we really going to go to the gym every day? Maybe for a few days, right up until we get really, sore (yes, I have lived this resolution too). We may not be able to control your body’s reaction to daily workouts when you have not done it for an extended period. We can control the emotional roller coaster we put ourselves on when we choose not to go the third day in a row because we cannot raise our arms high enough to scratch our noses. Life is a process not an event. Let me say that one again.

Life is a process, not an event. Events occur during the process but let me put this another way. If we stress about the journey, the destination is not all that great, is it? Enjoy the journey. Revolt against the person who admits failure too quickly. I heard a saying a long time ago and it has become a personal battle cry.

God loves a tryer.

I try. I fail. I try again. I fail less than I failed the first time and try again. Wash, rinse, repeat until clean.

Tribe of Up, do not settle for simple resolutions this new year. Stage a revolt against the thinking that creates that list. Instead, evolve into a person who enjoys the journey on the road to success, knowing there will be small failures along the way. Evolve into a person who strives to be the person you know you can be 100% of the time. But do not beat yourself up when you honestly assess you are only there 80%. Keep growing, continue your journey. Enjoy the view, even when people cut you off in traffic. Happy New Year!

Steve is a Dexter resident and the Owner, Chief Travel Agent for Life’s Journeys, and Vice President of Trying at Better Place Consulting, a coaching company specializing in career and success coaching. Reach out to him at steve@betterplacemgmt.com.