It comes like clockwork every year. On December 31, we resolve to do better, be better, and achieve better. But just how cliche is the New Year’s Resolution? Is the “New Year, New Me” theory really a fad?
I’ve heard many doubtful conversations from peers over the last couple of weeks surrounding New Year’s resolutions but I for one, believe in change and small steps towards progress. So despite the negative remarks, articles, and content swirling around regarding overnight change — I propose these three resolutions for 2016 — all based from experiences and observations from 2015 and how we can progressively move together as a community and tap into our better selves for the New Year.
Socrates said it best: “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new.”
Therefore, I pose this. If all of our energy should be focused on “building the new” to foster change, doesn’t this correlate directly to the momentum we try to project through New Year’s resolutions? Sometimes we all need the extra added push, hope, and inspiration that comes with a new day. While most change (at least not in the supernatural) does not occur overnight, we can still build on the new and towards attainable goals.
RESOLVE TO CULTIVATE COMMUNITY COLLABORATION
Try saying this three times really fast. While an unintended tongue twister (I promise), this resolution hits on two essentially powerful tools for accelerated success: community and collaboration.
Just last week, North Texas experienced the devastating effects of several deadly tornados, leaving residents and their pets homeless, without adequate food, and stripped of livelihood. In less than 18 hours, TangoTab assembled 300 volunteers to work together in feeding thousands of tornado victims in the wake of the fatal storms.
Specifically, 13,000 sandwiches, 10,000 bags of chips and cookies, and carloads of water, blankets, diapers, and other necessities were distributed to the victims for daily living. If one man or even several had sought to achieve this alone, the impact would not have been as great.
For 2016, embrace in the power of collaboration. To quote the late Helen Keller, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”
In a world devoid of selflessness and peppered with destruction, negativity, and evil, it’s imperative that we explore ways of helping one another with our endeavors and to make intentional efforts to foster positive outreach. Whether in a community or business setting, we can achieve more together — and this needs to permeate deep down in our souls with every action we take in the upcoming year.
RESOLVE TO CONQUER THE CREATIVE
What’s the one thing that you can’t get out of your mind day in and day out? What are your passions? What are your dreams? What are your fears? Why not dare to face the impossible for 2016? While a similar resolution such as this always makes my Editor’s picks year after year, I feel as though it is one of the most vital for personal, community, and economic growth.
I sit back in amazement — especially on a day like today where the sky is gray, a light fog is in the air, a cool mist sprinkles down, and a relaxing serenade of Leon Bridges’ River fills the air. When’s the last time you’ve allowed your imagination to run wild? When’s the last time you’ve actually melted into one of your favorite tunes, nudging euphoria at its shoulders, to truly tap into your hearts desires? I beg you to do that now.
While it’s completely a facade to say that one will conquer all of their dreams in any given New Year, it is completely possible to embark on a journey to finally do “that thing” that has been tugging at your heart for years. Why not now?
Dallas alone received astronomical growth in its entrepreneurial spectrum, with many small business owners taking the leap of faith to put their products and services into the marketplace, to much success.
The start-up scene in the Big D is bursting at the seams, as even the first-ever Dallas StartUp Week boasted record numbers and packed out sessions for its inaugural conference in 2015.
All this to say: the time is now. Make a plan and execute to tap into what you have been itching to create. Others are doing it, so why shouldn’t you? Let 2016 be the year that you grab ahold of your dreams, craft a quantifiable plan, and then design the life you have always wanted. Cliche’? I think not.
RESOLVE TO REGROUP, REBUILD, REFRESH & RESTART
It’s never too late to press restart. We’ve all made horribly ill-informed decisions, or better yet have failed. But the ones who experience the most success and achieve the greatest wealth (and not just monetarily) are those who dust themselves off, learn from their mistakes, and fearlessly press restart.
Had a couple of business ventures in 2015 that failed to pan out? Press Restart.
Had a relationship that didn’t evolve into the white picket fence and house on the hill? Press Restart.
Did materialism subsume your finances in 2015, costing you financial growth and less than duplicative investments? Press Restart.
Did exercise and nutrition take a back seat to other more satisfying pleasures in your life for 2015? It’s ok. We’ve all been there. Press Restart.
Did you receive less than stellar numbers on the one business plan that you just knew was going to be the “it” creation? Dig deeper, do more research, and you should get it by now — Press Restart.
The list could go on as to the many fails and disappointments we experience on a daily basis in this roller coaster journey called life. But what truly separates the mediocre mindset from that of true excellence, is the ability to regroup and restart — despite all odds to the contrary.
Let 2016 be the year that you fuel your tank for maximum horsepower, proceed forward passionately, and if all else fails — refresh and Press Restart.
