Resolutionless? Here’s an idea
Happy New Year!
Our family just finished a short hiatus from all the normal stuff of life – like getting out the door, making school lunches, navigating school activities and events, traveling for work, meeting with clients, doing projects around the house. It was lovely.
While we were on break, I had several people ask me what my New Year’s resolutions were. When I told them I didn’t do resolutions, they were surprised, especially knowing how goal oriented I am. It’s not that I don’t have goals or intentions for the year, but instead of making a resolution, I pick a theme or concept and try to make decisions throughout the year based on my theme.
Last year’s theme was permission to not do things we’ve almost always done, and I based a lot of my actions on giving myself permission to not doing things.
For example, over the holidays, teachers didn’t get hand-written notes, they got candy bars with a “Happy Holiday” label slapped on it. We didn’t send a shoebox Christmas gift to kids across the world. We didn’t do a service project. We didn’t have as many people over for festivities as we usually do.
Do I feel a little guilty for not doing some of the kinder things? Sure, and yet I decided I had permission to not do as much. In essence, this was my year off. When I felt that twinge of guilt, I remembered other people step in when we step back, and it was my year to step back so they could step in. I look forward to stepping in again this coming year, but for this year, it was enough to give others the opportunity to serve.
If you get discouraged and overwhelmed by the number of things to do, people to see, a world to save, then it may be time to pull back, to pause, to reset. This is the perfect time of year to do those things. Give yourself permission to walk away from making a New Year’s resolution or from doing what you think others expect of you. Instead give yourself permission to have a theme but no solid action items.
The time will come for action items. Until then, give yourself permission to not do, but instead to be.
My theme for 2018? To be an intentional voice. It’s a phrase that has come back to me again and again this past fall, so now it’s time to explore what it means to advocate for those without a voice or to put words to the many things we feel but don’t know how to express. It’s an exciting theme, but to put goals around it would be to limit its possibilities, and this is the time of year to dream not limit ourselves.
To a New Year, full of possibilities!
Keynote speaker, trainer, and consultant, Sarah Gibson, helps organizations leverage the power of communication, teamwork and diversity to improve engagement and transform teams. To buy her book or inquire about her speaking programs, please visit www.sarahjgibson.com.
