the forming of new years resolutions....

Alright, alright, so it's January 3rd, and 2012 is here to stay.

I had a great Christmas break. We went on a little family vaca, I read a few books, slept-in a little here and there, worked out in the warm sunshine, rode waves in the crystal blue ocean, and ate like a slob (I'm still hurting).

Whenever I have time away, I get a little carried away with thoughts and goals. Because of the spare time, I start to remind myself of allll the things I want to get done and achieve in the new year. Stop doing this, start doing that, do more of this, do less of that. You get the picture. Did you have the chance to reflect?

I then sit on these things for a few days before I determine which ones I really want to focus on. Which are ultimately going to get me to where I want to get to. I try to stick to 3-5, but preferably 4 (hehe). I'll do 5 if one of the goals is just too much to pass up!

From there, I write them down, put the notebook away (until I look at it again the next day), and begin making changes (why do we have to change to be better, and live a more full life, ahh (sigh/hoh-hum). Because nothing stays the same!

As I start making these changes, I look back at previous years, and give myself sort of a grade. One year might be a C+, the next an A-, but what it all boiled down to was decisions I made or didn't make throughout the year, and ultimately where they led me. Some into a crappy job, more debt, and more stress, and some into a cool job, less debt, and a happier life. I prefer the latter, so I try and replicate and build on the things I did well, and improve on the things I didn't do so well. I need a straight 'A' dammit!!

From there, I start to try and identify things I can surround myself with to help me achieve these goals. Maybe there are books, re-kindling old friendships, reaching out to create new friendships with smarter, better, faster people than me (that's how you get better, surround yourself with people better than yourself! It rubs off, and then you move onto the next group of geniuses, and make yourself available to maybe someone that was in your shoes a year or two ago. One big happy circle.)

I then identify what things in my current situation are helping or hurting me. Maybe it's diet or sleeping habits, frequency of exercise, faith and prayer, being prompt or not so prompt, and then shaving some of these things off, or building them up.

From there, the ball drops, and my reflection process now becomes my intended way of life for the new year.

As I write this, like I said, it's January 3rd, 2012. I'd like to pose a few questions for us all to consider:

1. Have you already given up?
2. Do you mean to live this intended way of life, or are you just saying it?
3. What's your grade so far?

So, in looking back at previous years, and in the years I was more satisfied with my performance than not, there were two major underlining things that hit me, that if I can just stick to these two, the year's outlook will turnout as planned if not better:

1. Action
2. Daily accountability for my own results

It's not that I don't come into the year with the best intentions, but if I don't act upon them and hold myself accountable, then you might as well take a nap and wake up Jan. 1, 2013, because this would've been a wasted year, and maybe you can try again then. This goes for you and me alike.

Anything else on top of this is just hot air. Such as, "I want to be stronger." "I want to be more respected." "I want to find what I'm really passionate about." "I want to do more community service and help others." "I want to educate myself." "I want to be more resilient and not give in when things get tough." "I want to pay my bills on time for once!" Guess what, none of this happens without a little thing called: Action (Def: an act that one consciously wills and that may be characterized by physical or mental activity, thus choice). And it doesn't improve without a little thing called: Accountability (Def: responsible to someone (yourself) or for some action; answerable to your own results.)

This doesn't start March 2nd, or July 15, it starts now. Give yourself a chance. Why go another year feeling like a loser (though you may be very successful to the outside world, but it's how you feel), if it's just as simple as starting today. And then worry about tomorrow when tomorrow comes. And then the day after that. It's like when I first started lifting in our family basement. I couldn't bench the bar, so I did pushups. Eventually, that got me strong enough to do the bar. From there, I would add weight to each side, until finally, I was pushing up multiples of my own body-weight. If I tried to do multiples of my own body-weight right away, I probably wouldn't be typing right now (because I would've been crushed).

I read a really cool book recently that my brother Pete gave to me for Christmas, by Marcus Aurelius, a well-known emperor of Rome (he wasn't the wimp in the movie Gladiator. Different guy). He named many people who were his mentors and figures that he looked up to and interacted with. One of the things that stuck with him most, and coincidentally stuck with me most while reading his book, was advice that his Grandfather, Verus (meaning 'Truth'), had given to him, and something I will leave you with:

"It is up to you!"