For this new year, I resolved to make no resolutions.
I have made no pronouncements of great heights that I will climb or raging seas that I will swim, and declined to dedicate myself to fantastic feats.
Make no mistake, however, I have not abandoned my goals of cheating death and singing solo in public, among other things.
Rather, I have worked to develop better habits in 2020 that will allow me to stay ahead of father time and sharpen the saw as the gurus of personal growth call it. These smart people have determined that setting goals is far less effective than developing daily or frequent habits that move us further along our path of progress.
Rather than have a glass a wine for dinner, I’m having a glass of sparkling water in a wine glass, which will spare me a few hundred extra calories a day—at least Mondays to Thursdays. I’ll mercifully spare you the other annoying things that I’m doing.
But I will share with you this nugget of wisdom from habit expert Charles Duhigg: “All our life … is but a mass of habits—practical, emotional, and intellectual—systematically organized for our weal or woe, and bearing us irresistibly toward our destiny, whatever the latter may be.”
So if you’re going to make any resolutions this year, resolve to make establishing good habits a habit.
Note: One of the great things about Toastmasters is that you perform a number of different speaking roles. This morning at my Town & Gown club meeting, I was the chair, and these were my opening remarks. I liked them, so I posted them. Check out Toastmasters if you’re looking to improve your public speaking skills … or get over your fear of it.
About Tim O'Connor