Have you ever struggled with making New Year resolutions? Does January 1st come and by the end of the month you are back to your old ways? To be honest with you, I find the whole resolution-making process tiring and cumbersome. Over the years, I have completely ignored making any resolutions.
A good friend challenged my perspective when he asked. What is your one word for the coming year? I had never thought of such a thing before. Like a bolt of lightning, one word immediately flashed in my mind. It was CONNECT. This coming year, I want to have more meaningful and carefully selected interactions.
I will connect with myself. I will connect with my spouse and kids. I will connect with those I coach. I will connect with people. How? I will Convene, be Open, Navigate with purpose, Nourish my mind, Exercise my body, Coach more, and finally, work on being more Trusted.
1. Convene – I will build and be part of a strong, loving and caring community. Growing alone is lonely, frustrating and is plain selfish. One of my values drives my need for community; to inspire excellence in people. This is an exciting prospect. My joy is in seeing people thrive, in knowing that I have influenced a life for the better.
2. Open – I have primed myself to capture opportunities that come my way. If I can name one thing that stalled my growth last year, it would be second-guessing myself. How many times do you find yourself at the cusp of something great only for the perfect response to beat you to it? This year, I will be better at not concealing my thoughts or feelings. I will be more frank and openly communicative.
3. Navigate – I will plan and direct the course of my ship from the get go. Before the dawn of the new year, I had penned out my goals for 2015. My desire was to have all my goals fleshed out by January 1st. However, in the next two days, I will have the instruments and map that will guide my success in 2015. And I have an awesome friend to help me stay accountable to the goals I set. That is key, especially during the moments I feel unable to fulfill my goals. I need someone who can give me an honest kick in the seat of my pants to get me going again.
4. Nourish – My mindset has a big influence on how I act and respond to various stimuli that come my way. I choose to keep a feeling or belief in my mind that I will succeed in whatever I engage in. A craving to hydrate my mind with words of wisdom and feed it with credible knowledge. In ‘The Power of Habit’, Charles Duhigg says: “Cravings are what drive habits. And figuring out how to spark a craving makes creating a new habit easier.”
5. Exercise – I will consistently and persistently improve fitness of my body and mind. Why? Last year, I started walking and jogging again after years of limited physical activity. It was amazing! I noticed that it not only improved my physical well-being. I was super-alert and productive in my writing, my relationship with my wife (and kids) improved, and my mind felt fresh and free. This year, I plan to walk 42 kilometers and keep to a regular fitness regime.
6. Coach – Not only will I coach others, I will also seek coaches that will inspire and challenge me to grow. This means that I will invest in quality relationships even more. A well-designed and consciously executed coaching experience is like a meeting of two rivers. The confluence yields a bigger force that cannot be ignored. This will be my drive this year onwards.
7. Trusted – Without trust, none of my desires above will come to life. My character will be one that draws people to me. That will only happen if they can trust me. To be trusted is when others have a firm belief in my reliability, truth, or ability to lead them. I can’t take trust for granted. It will be in my cross-hairs at all times.
My year will be filled with people. I will not stop until I have CONNECTed with as many people as I can.
What is your one word that will inspire your revolution this year? Click here and share your word in the comments below.
photo credit: Reza Vaziri via photopin cc
Difference (I want to make a difference is peoples lives by working with them to help them communicate and interact more effectively)
Good one @briansmithpld:disqus, can’t wait to hear the difference you inspire in others!
Nice post and good new year resolutions. For the exercise I recommend joining a good gym near you. This will offer you a variety of exercise as jogging alone soon gets boring so you start skipping. The combination of aerobics, zhumba and rhumba dancing, weights, steam and sauna has made a huge difference in my life. Besides, seeing others training keeps you going. I am back to the Gym tomorrow after the Christmass break with a marathon 3-hour aerobics, rhumba, zhumba session at the new Aim Global Fitness located at Taj Shopping Mall roof top in Embakasi. No charges for tomorrow Saturday 3rd 2015!
Awesome @charlesnyiro:disqus, action!
Possibilities – the breadth and scope are limitless and their realization starts with us.
i like that @disqus_OTZO3ayHf3:disqus.
Connect- I will be focusing on meaningful, fulfilling, mutually beneficial and life changing connections
Looks like we have the same word Brian 🙂
Clarity. I want more clarity for myself, my life, and my world so that I can make decisions that bring glory to God and balance, fulfillment, and joy to me and those around me. My life is my work.
What a great word Sandra. Let me know how I can support you to bring clarity to your leadership. May 2015 be filled with breakthroughs for you.