Ignore the Resolution Bashers

If the writing of New Year’s Resolutions inspires you, by all means, go for it! Ignore what others may think about them, or about the process itself, and do whatever helps rock your world.

Late December and early January is such a marvelous time to light a fire under your Ho‘ohana intentions. Adopt a word, like Joanna and Amy did, or fully embrace a number like Anne is doing. Resolve to start writing a blog! (Send me the link and I’ll subscribe.) This is the perfect time of year to unscramble and redesign your Weekly Review habit too; buy a new calendar with gorgeously glossy photos to inspire you, or one of those big wall-covering ones with plenty of write-in/draw-on spaces to storyboard out loud.

That reminds me” “I’m going to live out loud.” has always been one of my all-time favorite resolutions. You can make good on that one so quickly and joyously! Another favorite has been, “I’m going to give good company.” because it challenges me to be more interesting to people, and to give as the way to be. When you have repeaters on your lists, don’t tell others you’re “trying again;” tell them you’re recycling the goodness.

I’m one of those planning-obsessives who love tinkering around with these assorted New Year’s processes — all of them! So I don’t choose one as much as indulge in the pure abundance of them. With each turn of the calendar year I’ll look back, look forward, argue with the trends or applaud them, make lists (Tim Sanders just shared a great approach), choose words, phrases or quotes (and not just Hawaiian ones) doodle within my 9 boxes (copious pages of ‘em!) and I don’t worry at all about my own probability (if I’ll make it the resolution-distance or not). I’m more interested in possibility, and how my tinkering around with the process itself will trigger something in my submerged thinking, allowing that something to bubble to the top of my consciousness so I pay better attention to it, or simply have the moment’s fun with it.

The whole experience of planning for the coming year is like the process of choosing a plump seed, preparing some garden soil, germinating the seed and then planting it. Come blooming time weeks or months into the season I might discover I got the seeds mixed up or they mutated somehow (“This is a vine? Really?”) but so what? Something actually grew because I attended to the basics, and set the timer on my irrigation sprinklers to water it!

So as some song had once encouraged us, let the sunshine in. Ignore the bashers and naysayers (or show them what they’ve been missing). Share your words, lists, resolutions, or whatever you want to call your Ho‘ohana intentions with people who will be enthusiastic and encourage you. You may find they also opt to keep you company in the effort.

Remember to Hō‘imi. The whole ‘process’ of Managing with Aloha reminds us how valuable it can be to put a positive spin on everything we do, resolutions included. So much is in our attitude, and we can be infectious. That’s you, the positive contagion!