Why New Years' Resolutions Aren't Enough Or, "Why Years-in-Review Can Really Suck"

It happens every year: we get caught up in a Year-In-Review, which becomes a "Year-In-Regrets" - squash that tradition and raise your glass to a real plan. This time, rediscover yourself and re-invent it.Don't remain status quo, let this be the year you spread your wings.

Maybe this isn't you, but it's been my pattern for years. Why? My upbringing, culture, family and friends all did it. We'd go to school after the break and ask each other what we were going to do differently. The first part of every year was spent reviewing, Jumbo-Tron style, how we performed or failed, emphasis on the latter. We'd discuss what classes we were bombing, what friends we were letting down...who was building us up, who we wanted to meet after school at the bus stop for some "school of hard knocks" lessons, so to speak. (Personally, I was too busy running from all that violent drama.)

This year's a bit different. My Year-In-Review isn't going to be spent on the 1,001 reasons life seems like a lemon orchard or rotten egg farm. Been there, done that, folks. A quick Year-In-Review for me: reaching drop-dead bottom of the barrel. Do I want to spend Spring mulling that over? Are you kidding me? No, I'm spending my time on the bounce back up from the bottom, which brings me to your life.

What should you do with your Year-In-Review, if your last year tanked?

1. Re-Prioritize Your Focus
2. Re-Focus on What You Can Change: Y-O-U
3. Change One Thing at a Time

1. Re-Prioritize Your Focus

Focus on the silver lining, not the rusty, crummy moth-riddled bad news. If you want bad news, turn on the radio to a talk radio spot on the AM dial, or turn on the talking heads in cable news. Use that to kick-start your own downward spiral...

...OR just tune that off for a moment to get really focused on what you can change in your own life. You can't stop the big banks from turning all Mr. Potter on you, even if you are George Bailey. What you can do is market your own skills or spend your spare moments trying to get skills to market.

Case in point: you're reading this article, right? Re-prioritize your focus, and get real with what turns your head and eats up your time. It should be worth your while (debating politics...hmm. Not sure that fits, imho.)

2. Re-Focus on What You Can Change: Y-O-U
You can't change the economy. Not if you have time to read this article, anyway. You can't change the government, not until elections, really. You can't change that your company just laid you off, that the dog ran away, that the car just broke down, etc. Stop worrying about what you can't change, and focus on the one thing you can change: Y-O-U and your attitude, your income, your decisions. If you don't like the tracks your train's on, then either flip the track switch or buy another ticket. Whatever that takes.

Case in point: as you read this, I am probably working 75 hours or so a week on a slow week. The majority of my hours is spent making money online as a freelancer or web publisher, the other time in the family business, and a wee little bit of scraps are left over for what I think really matters: my family. That is not my goal lifestyle, but I'm working hard to make that happen for my family. Life can give me lemons for the time being, it's OK, so long as I'm focused on the destination.

3. Change One Thing at a Time
Alright, you may have 10 character and life changes you want to make right now, or that you wanted to happen yesterday or last week. The answer is not to change it all at once. Take your biggest, baddest problem, the one that robs you of sleep knowing it's looming over you.

Start with a goal in mind - a solution you'd love to see. Make it realistic.
Take your end-game and ask yourself, given a certain timeframe of "x" months, how you can progress to that goal.
Give it all you've got.

When that one's down the tubes of history, take aim at the next one. Be ready, though, because when life plays ball, you'll get some curves thrown in for good measure. Life doesn't play by our rule book, by our schedule, so be ready to handle it when it does come. In other words, you're going to face several problems at once, many times, but the point is you don't want to be the one deciding that, "Oh, I think I'll lose 30#, gain $15k in income, repair my marriage AND buy a new house. Today."

Set yourself up to win this thing, and don't let the Year-In-Review bah-humbug's get you down!

By James M Hussey