career: December 2007 Archives

‘Tis the season for most people’s year-end reviews & roundups, New Year’s resolutions, or some other sort of forward-looking projections. Unfortunately (for people who enjoy those sort of things), I don’t have any. It’s not because I’m misguided or unrealistic, nor do I believe that I have no areas of improvement (far from it). It’s more of an idea I fostered a few years ago for myself.

With the help of some people close in my life, I made some radical changes in my life a few years ago. Since then, I’ve made other changes. I no longer drink, smoke cigarettes, eat horribly, stay out late, etc. When did I make these changes? Not on some arbitrary date, but when it became clear that (a) there was a problem and (b) it needed to be addressed. Most likely sooner rather than later. But never before.

If you stop and think about all the New Year’s Resolutions you’ve ever made, what’s a common thread? Well, for starters, it was an issue / concern / problem that was readily apparent in your mind. So, in the spirit of the new year, you resolved to change it. But why wait? If it was a problem in May, why wait until January to give it a half-hearted attempt to change it? In other words, own your problems. If anything, why not use the new year to track the progress on your goals, instead of making them?

On a professional level, I have a few goals I’ve got set out for myself and behaviors I’d like to improve on. I still don’t always play nice with others, and I have a tendency to let my sarcasm show a little too much with people that may not recognize it or appreciate it. On a personal level, I want to make sure I am being the best husband and father that I can be. But I set out to do these things months ago. Waiting to make a resolution is pretty much admitting that you don't want to change it at all. Because if it was something truly important, you wouldn't want to wait.