Choose Your Theme
January 2007
... and forget the New Year’s resolutions, which are likely already drifting towards oblivion, buried under mounds of to-do lists and ingrained habits. Which is just as well, because now that they’re out of the way it’s the perfect time to reflect on the year ahead and choose a theme.
Though this may have been the year you were (really, truly) going to ... be more focused, less intense, have more fun, work harder, live a healthier lifestyle, whatever you were going to do more of, less of, improve ... resolutions rarely do the trick. And that’s where the theme comes in. It gives you a structure on which to hang your actions, reactions, and mindset, the “magic” combination that creates the kind of change that lasts.
For years, I had a recurring New Year’s resolution (sounds a bit like a recurring stress dream!): “This year I will be more organized.” People who know me now fall over laughing when I share that; they can’t believe it’s not my natural state of being. But in fact it doesn’t come naturally, and year after year I’d whip myself up in a frenzy of setting up systems and processes, vowing to keep my office organized and my desk clean. Despite my best intentions, by February the receipt for purchases made in Staples’ organizing aisle was the last vestige of that goal. And then one day, in one of those duh! moments, I realized organized wasn’t what I cared about; it was wasting time looking for stuff, getting distracted by all the things on my desk and worrying I’d forgotten something. My theme for 2002 became “flowing smooth and easy.” I said it out loud every morning, stuck it on my monitor, and looked at what I really needed to keep things flowing smoothly and easily. There were still plenty of action steps to get there, but it was also a huge perspective shift, and that’s what made the change stick.
There are an infinite number of themes. Which one will make the biggest difference in your year? Take time to reflect on the year just past and consider what you want for yourself in 2007. Choose a theme that paints a picture of your desired outcome. Write it down, say it daily, whatever will keep it top of mind for you. It won’t take long for your actions and thoughts to align with your theme ... and with the way you want to live your life.
“Life is the art of drawing without an eraser.”
~John W. Gardner
© Copyright 2007 Sherry Essig, All rights reserved. You are welcome to use this article for reprinting in any ezine, website, or print journal as long as it appears in full and you give full attribution including the website: www.PriorityVenturesGroup.com
