The Resolution Revolution: A New Way To Keep Your Resolve Throughout the Year
Like many of you, I was a master at making New Year’s resolutions. Keeping them, on the other hand, was another story entirely. I mean, really, how many times could I vow to lose ten pounds or re-read the classics? Resolutions made in January were invariably the stuff of memory by my birthday a week before Valentine’s Day.
Then I met Rachel, a colleague who quickly became a dear friend. Rachel is the kind of person that comes along once in a lifetime, if you’re lucky. She has a way of helping me look at things from a new perspective, an uncanny ability to find solutions by stripping problems of extraneous details and exposing the core of the dilemma. Like many good things in my life, Rachel came to me at a time when I was mature enough and open enough to embrace her unique gifts.
A few years ago, when Rachel and I were still new friends, she asked me in December what my New Year’s resolution would be. I told her I had a few, listing the usual suspects – a smaller figure, a larger reading list. By then, Rachel knew me well enough to understand that I was simply going through the resolution motions, repeating a pattern that hadn’t served me well for decades.
That’s when Rachel explained “The Year Of” – her elegant solution for embracing the New Year. Each year on December 31, Rachel would give the next year a theme. It might be The Year of Small Changes, or The Year of Taking Chances, but whatever the theme, it would guide the way she lived her life in the coming year.
As a concept The Year Of is genius. TYO has, in many ways, changed my life. Instead of setting unrealistic or amorphous goals that had little chance of success, I would have a guiding principal that informed my decisions throughout the year. After careful consideration, I started with The Year of Small Changes. Rather than trying to lose 10 pounds, I would eat smaller portions and exercise a little more. Instead of a radical makeover, I would try a new shade of lipstick or cut bangs for a fresh look. If I couldn’t create world peace, I could raise money for my local shelter.
Small changes made a huge difference that year. My first TYO worked so well that I was eager to come up with an equally successful TYO for the following year. After much soul-searching and an interior monologue worthy of a Woody Allen script, I came up with The Year of the Whole Ass.
I know, it’s a terrible name, but it worked a lot better than it sounds. You see, I have a way of diving into things and leaving them half-finished. I’m great at conceptualization, not as good at follow-through. No more half-assed projects for me. This year would be about the finish line, not the start, the meal, not the recipe. And, much to my delight, it worked; over and over again, I saw things through to the end. Start to finish, beginning to end – that was my mantra for The Year of the Whole Ass.
TYO is a part of my life now. Each December I search my heart for what I need most, and find a way to make that my goal for the next year. I can’t wait for New Year’s Eve 2009, the countdown to The Year of Letting Go.
Happy New Year!
Candace Karu is a writer and blogger for Cabot Creamery in Vermont (www.cabotcheese.coop). She is a former editor at Running Times and Maine Home + Design. Contact her at cpkaru@gmail.com.
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