You say you want a resolution…
A resolution is not a burden, but an opportunity -- a chance to prove you're master of your fate. -Terry Dunkle
I read this quote in an article by Terry Dunkle and it really made me think. I’m not normally one to make New Year’s Resolutions. I believe most of us make resolutions that reflect our end goal and not the steps we need to get there. For instance, a common resolution is to lose weight. But, without a metric for how to accomplish this, you set yourself up for failure. Even if you say “I will go to the gym every day”, you are setting yourself up for failure. You miss one day, promise that it won’t happen again but inevitably life gets in the way. Sometime in March you realize that you haven’t been to the gym in weeks and then you beat yourself up for failing on your resolution. Or, perhaps this only happens to me?
But this quote forced me to rethink resolutions – to look at them as opportunities to construct positive change without the internal punishment for “failure”. Resolutions should be a chance to commit yourself to doing something differently, even if you accomplish it incrementally. In that spirit, this year I am making a couple of resolutions:
- Take on one more activity/class/event than I think I can handle in order to stretch myself and get the most out of my time at Fisher (which is already flying by!).
- Get back to the person I used to be. You know, the one who actually liked to exercise and wouldn’t miss it for anything. I remember her... :)
- Embrace the advice given to us by Senior Associate Dean Karen Wruck during Fisher Advantage Orientation: “All of [the Fisher MBA students] have enormous potential. Find it in your classmates. Don’t squander your own." (Paying special attention to that last phrase)
- Spend at least two evenings at home NOT doing homework - at least until the kids are in bed...
- Make entries to this blog more often!
The plan is to do better – it’s not an all or nothing game. Here’s to a fantastic 2011!