New Year's – Fresh Start or Fresh Continuation?!

I went to get my hair cut over the weekend and Jeff, the barber, greeted me with a grimace when I wished him a “Happy New Year!”  He grumbled, “I hate New Year’s – nothing but the same old–same old.  Nothing ever changes.”

I’ve been thinking about his annoyance with the whole New Year’s “thing.”  In truth, I’ve never been a big resolutions kind of guy.  It’s always struck me as all so forced.  A year rushes to a distracted holiday end and then we’re supposed to start “fresh.”

It’s hard, though, to rev-up and be determined and hopeful.  Maybe the challenge rests with the emphasis we place on starting “new.”  I think Jeff was lamenting that New Year’s can too quickly devolve into Groundhog’s Day – we make resolutions, we break resolutions, we beat ourselves up and then we settle back into the way things were.  Nothing changes.

Maybe New Year’s should be less about “starting” and more about “continuing” the good, healthy, fruitful projects and habits we engaged in as the previous year drew to a close.

Before we resolve to “start” we need to determine what we want to resolve to “continue.”  Once we commit to continue doing the good that gave us satisfaction, we can confidently commit to building on that good behavior, taking on new habits and practices.

Alice (name changed) is president of a mid-sized manufacturing company.  Although she believes in her management team, she’s developed the habit of berating them in front of clients and colleagues.  The focus of my coaching has been to help her develop ways of treating her team with respect.  To her credit she made significant strides in the final quarter of last year.

In our session last week, she said that her New Year’s resolution is to not yell.  Although commendable, I suggested she resolve to “continue” to engage her team as adults and not misbehaving kids.

Is this just a word game?  I don’t think so.  I want her to focus on continuing to engage her team in ways that don’t come readily to her.  Strong continuation and not simply a short-lived effort – this is how change takes hold and evolves.

This means, though, that you have to lay claim to the good you were doing in 2014 and you have to believe in the worth of those good habits and practices.  Find the good – commit to continuing that good in ways different and new. 

Consider these questions:

1.     In 2014 what did you do that made you feel proud? 

2.     In 2014 where did you find deep satisfaction?

What would happen if you continued doing in 2015 all of what made you proud and satisfied in 2014? 

A fabulous 2015!