Welcoming Change in the New Year

It’s worth going the extra mile, especially if the thing you really want is a mile away.

Happy New Year! Did saying goodbye to the old year and welcoming in a new year make you feel at all introspective? Some people scoff at the idea of making New Year’s resolutions. But for many of us, it’s a good time to look back and identify what worked last year and what didn’t. This retrospective, in turn, causes us to look ahead, set goals, and establish plans of action to improve the way we live and work. Welcoming change in the new year isn’t necessarily easy, but it will empower us to lose some dead weight and adopt healthier habits for greater success.

Dealing with the obvious

Some things are simple to examine and address. For instance, our home printer has been very undependable this past year, making it a great source of frustration for our family. We never know from day to day whether it will receive the signal from our laptops and print out what we need. It’s really silly that we haven’t done this before now, but a goal of mine is to troubleshoot the printer one final time and buy a new one if it can’t be made to work.

Realistically approaching the complex

Overcoming a bad habit or addressing other issues is not as simple. For instance, you may regularly lose the battle with being on time to work. Perhaps you work in a job where you feel miserable, or maybe you’re the boss who makes others miserable because you keep passing on your stress! It could be that you regret hiring a certain employee and now have to decide whether to live with his underperformance or let him go. None of these issues is as simple to solve as purchasing a new printer.

Louise* recently shared that she struggled for years with being on time. She realized that her time-estimator was broken! Everything always took her longer than the time she allotted. Desiring to be more timely, she finally started a journal comparing how long she thought a task would take versus the time it actually took to complete it. This exercise has forced her to realistically view the day’s tasks and choose which one or two she can accomplish, rather than fantastically imagining that she will be able to tackle her whole list.

Another friend, Tom*, has been frustrated with his negative work situation. Tom recently acknowledged to himself that there are probably jobs out there that he would enjoy and find more rewarding. He just applied for a job which would fit him much better, and has an interview for next Monday!

Melissa* was not getting the most out of her office manager and had made up her mind to fire her. But when the two met to talk, Melissa realized that she had not been delegating as much as she could have to her employee, who had long since proven herself to be capable and reliable. Melissa is now practicing delegating more and being less involved in day-to-day operations.

Claiming your future today

Life is short. Right before Christmas, one of our friends suddenly became ill and died, all within a few days. Another friend had a heart attack and spent the holidays in the hospital. It reminded me once again that no one can guarantee us a tomorrow, so we’d better stop wasting time and pursue our dreams today. Welcoming change in the new year is one way to become more successful.

Merriam-Webster defines success as a “favorable or desired outcome; also :  the attainment of wealth, favor, or eminence.” I doubt that, at our friend’s memorial service, his wife and children will be talking about how eminent or rich he was. The measure of a person is truly found in the way he lives and how he treats others with whom he is in relationship–family, friends, coworkers.

Do you live with regret, unhappiness, or an unmet dream that seems too hard to pursue? Is fear of change holding you back from real success?

• If you’re in a job you dislike, why not identify what you really want in a career, and start taking steps to pursue it? No one is forcing you to work there.
• If you’re leading a company and are a victim of stress and overwork, what can you do to cut back and delegate? You are the only one who can take care of you.
• If you made a bad hire, maybe now is the time to cut your losses and hire someone who is the right fit.

The future is uncertain, but we do have today. Let’s make the most of it by welcoming change in the new year.

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*names have been changed to protect privacy