New Year Resolutions that Do not Suck

December 30, 2014.

I ran this morning after four days, setting out only after 7 am after a restful sleep. The weather in Chennai is perfect these days, the good rains adding to the chillness in the air.  After I covered some distance, trickles of sweat formed on my face and it felt warm.

My legs resisted the short 7 km run after the 4-day gap by registering pain around my calf muscles. As I neared the 2 km mark from home on the return loop, it started drizzling first slowly, then steadily, with the tiniest sprays of water gently caressing my sweat-dripping face.

It felt so very good to be soothed and cooled by water at its gentlest manifestation. I carried on running in the drizzle till I reached home, enjoying the experience hugely.

And I felt grateful. For the beautiful, steady, cooling caress by the drizzle. For my sturdy legs that moved one step after another. For waking up with a determination to run even though it was late. For the madness to run in the steady drizzle. For the gift of life. And for the year 2014 which is almost into its final lap ready to pass its baton to 2015.

Yes, 2014 has been a good year. We picked up well at Service Square during the year, I am creating an impact and things are falling in place slowly. My daughter found someone to marry. I ran three marathons – for the first time in my life. My enthusiasm to write in my blogs is only increasing. Above all, I have been a lot calmer and confident during the days and nights of this year. I think I have reinvented myself to a small extent through acts of creation.

December 31, 2014

I woke up a few minutes after 4 am and am back after running for an hour and fifteen minutes. Not a bad way to begin the new day of an old year. It feels very good.

Hardly a day separates this year and 2015. I intend to accelerate the pace of 2014 into 2015 and I foresee more focused action and progress.

I went through the goals and desires I had for 2014 in my post New Year Goals vs Systems. My first reaction after reading the post was to reflect with gloom about all those lofty goals that yielded lowly outcomes. A second look and deeper reflection helps me realize that on almost all resolutions I have made progress varying from low to high.

Recently I watched a video where one of my favourite marketers insisted that new year resulutions suck and it is not worth making them. I felt bad because I am fond of making them every year. In a way, new year resolutions for many are like Mark Twain’s quote about the resolve to give up smoking: “Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I’ve done it thousands of times.”

Making resolutions backed by strong emotional impact can indeed lead to their fruition. Devoid of the emotional content, they flounder at the first obstacle. Yet, persisting with unaccomplished resolutions could one day lead to the desired results. I gave up smoking after many, many resolutions and attempts.

One of the key learnings of 2014 for me is, I need not feel besieged by self-doubts if my teachers or people I admire have opinions or solutions different from mine. While their truths are valid in the context of their experiences, my truths have relevance in the crucible of my experiences.

There is no way I can grow with authenticity in the shadow of someone else, however big or revered. The best way to pay respect to teachers is by traversing my own path.

So, I resolve to persist with my resolutions. The unaccomplished resolutions contained in my post at the beginning of last year remain my priority to crack open. Then, here are a few others.

• Invest time daily to write down 10 ideas because they alone will help me explore various possibilities. As James Altucher says, we end up becoming the average of the ideas we nurture and discover.
• I am also the average of the five or ten people I move with closely. I will make efforts to seek out the company of people who will energize me through their emotional and intellectual content. The vexed of spirit, are not the ones I become intimate with.
• I will make it a point to write every day – even if it is only about 100 words. There is a lot of power in beginning anything.
• 2015 will see me write at least one post every week in www.servicesinchennai.com. And I will invest enough time on social media platforms.
• I will stay in touch with our customers through monthly mails aimed at increasing our visibility
• There is going to be order in everything I do and de-cluttering is going to be my priority.  I focus single-mindedly on the important tasks to be accomplished at office.
• I will scale new heights in long distance running with more marathons, improved timing and longer distances.
• I am going to make conscious attempts at becoming a better social animal by ridding myself of my shyness and mixing with people
• My equation with money needs a makeover. To respect my effort and that of others in the office, I will not return home till I have gone through the accounts carefully.

2015 will see me focusing more than ever on making Service Square a company worth emulating for its world standard quality, customer service and HR practices.

Though the harsh beating I took during the past few years have made me plant my feet on the ground, a part of me still lives in the cocooned position and power of my First Flight glory. I am going to remind myself that this is a new business (even after 14 years!) that needs building from scratch. And there is a need to get into the trenches and get my hands dirty.

My actions in the past in keeping some of my resolutions have not been very strong.

I will do what it takes to create the ideal climate in my mind and heart – to propel my actions with the desired power and impact.

To create the desired climate, I will remember some thoughts I have picked up from various sources and masters:

Heaven is being perfect….. being perfect means being there or showing up….(Richard Bach)
It is the impeded stream that sings the best…(Wendel Berry)
When you pour your soul into something, it turns a tea of boiling water into nuclear energy. (James Altucher)
What is essential is invisible to the human eye…one understands from the heart… (Saint Exupery)
Love is a recipe……(Wendel Berry)

Actions and resolutions to attain my goals are now clear.  I have a measure of the steps needed to create the climate in which my actions will be nurtured.

2015 is just opening and the page is blank. It is now time to start filling up the pages.

There is much to accomplish and so much to do.

However, there is a world beyond all those doing and having.

I know deep inside that being and becoming are what would create the alignment and the right climate inside of me to germinate anything of substance.

It is moments of non-doing that will power my doing. Which will give me the courage to embrace the unknown and the never-done.

I become and grow to the extent to which I do things I have never done.

That is a new world and a new awakening.