Each year, many people set New Year’s Resolutions. Statistically, most of these people fail by February and nearly all by March. Why would you keep doing that to yourself. Isn’t the definition of insanity doing the same things and expecting different results?
A few years ago, I learned about an alternative. You can get the book at Amazon – One Word That Will Change Your Life. It says in one of the first pages that the book was written to be read in 44 minutes. Not 45. I liked the precision and advance notice of how much of my time I needed to invest. I read it while I waited with Catherine to be discharged from AI DuPont when she had her spine surgery in 2013. Turns out it takes more than 44 minutes to be discharged from the hospital so I actually got to finish the book.
I can give you the gist in less than 10 seconds:
Rather than set a resolution that statistically will fail, choose a word to focus on for the year.
That’s it. Like most things in life, the simpler the better – and frequently the more profound and true.
I spent the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year allowing words to roll around my heart, mind and soul. I even had a list of contenders. Over time, I reflected and narrowed and found the word I knew needed to be my word for the year.
Choose.
What’s yours? You’ll be amazed at how you get to live into it and you’ll be mystified at the changes that will manifest if you really allow one word to become the center of all you do for the year.
So choose a word. I dare you.
As I was contemplating resolutions this year, it came to my mind that instead of resolutions, we should list our life priorities and when decisions have to be made, we look at the list to determine our next move. When faced with a choice in life, the decision should line up with our priorities.