Meaningful Resolutions

Year after year, we make the same resolutions:

I'm going to lose weight.

I'm going to spend more time with my family.

I'm going to work out.

I'm going to quit smoking...

... fall in love, get organized, stop something, start something.

How about this - stop making the same old annual resolutions that don't ever amount to much?

How about one single resolution, "This year, I will transform my life."

In his book "Resolved, 13 Resolutions for LIFE," Orrin Woodward outlines 13 resolutions that can do just that - transform your life. Imagine if you would focus on just one of these every week for the next 13 weeks, and repeat that for three more 13-week cycles the remainder of the year. Where would you be this time next year?

If these resolutions sound like a meaningful challenge for you, and you are serious about pursuing them, let's talk!

Orrin Woodward’s Thirteen Resolutions from RESOLVED

1.) Purpose: I resolve to discover my God-given purpose.

I know that when my potential, passions and profits intersect, my purpose is revealed.

2.) Character: I resolve to choose character over reputation anytime they conflict.

I know that my character is who I am, and my reputation is only what others say that I am.

3.) Attitude: I resolve to have a positive attitude in all situations.

I know that my beliefs determine my attitudes, which lead to my results.

 

4.) Programming the Elephant: I resolve to align my conscious (ant) with my subconscious (elephant) mind towards my vision.

I know that ending the civil war between them is crucial for all achievement.

5.) Game Plan and Do: I resolve to develop and implement a game plan in each area of my life.

I know that planning and doing are essential parts of the success process.

 

6.) Keeping Score: I resolve to keep score in the game of life.

I know that the scoreboard forces me to check and confront the results, making the needed adjustments in order to win.

7.) Friendship: I resolve to develop the art and science of friendship.

I know that everyone needs a true friend to lighten the load when life gets heavy.

 

8.) Financial Management: I resolve to develop financial intelligence.

I know that my wealth is compounded when incomes are higher than expenses over time.

 

9.) Leadership Resolution: I resolve to develop the art and science of leadership.

I know that everything rises and falls based upon the leadership culture created within my community.

10.) Conflict Resolution: I resolve to develop the art of conflict resolution.

I know that relationship bombs and unresolved conflict destroy a community’s unity and growth.

 

11.) Systems Thinking: I resolve to develop systems thinking.

I know that by viewing life as interconnected patterns rather than isolated events, I improve my leverage.

 

12.) Adversity Quotient: I resolve to develop Adversity Quotient.

I know that AQ leads to perseverance in overcoming obstacles and setbacks.

13.) Legacy: I resolve to reverse the current of decline in my field of mastery.

I know that a true legacy leaves the world a better place than I found it.

Inspiration for the Battle

I've assembled several of my favorite quotes - those that inspire my pursuit of a self-directed education. I hope they serve as inspiration for you as well!

“What we do on some great occasion will probably depend on what we already are; and what we are will be the result of previous years of self discipline.”

- H. P. Liddon

“You must take personal responsibility. You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons or the wind, but you can change yourself.”

- Jim Rohn

“Everyone is looking for a quick fix, but what they really need is fitness. People who look for fixes stop doing what’s right when pressure is relieved. People who pursue fitness do what they should no matter what the circumstances are.”

- Kevin Myers

“You want to set a goal that is big enough that in the process of achieving it you become someone worth becoming.”

- Jim Rohn

“The time to prepare isn’t after you have been given the opportunity. It’s long before that opportunity arises. Once the opportunity arises, it’s too late to prepare.”

- John Wooden

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the things you did.”

- Mark Twain

“The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.”

- Michelangelo

“More often than not, the only thing between you and your dream is a rational excuse.”

- Mark Batterson, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day

A Self-Directed Education – Your Greatest Investment

I had always thought that my education ended with the formal "school system" process; information that someone else delivered, a curriculum leading to a diploma that someone would bestow upon me. Information that would prepare me for life.

Sure, I would eventually learn the skills required to succeed in my profession, and perhaps different skills from job to job. But I truly thought that the core of my education was over.

What I learned (pun intended) was that it had never ended. Instead, it was stronger than ever. I discovered that every day, often many times a day, I was learning from someone. Perhaps it was someone from the radio, television, or movies. Perhaps it was a co-worker, a buddy, or even a stranger. I was absorbing information. I was absorbing different ways of thinking. That information, repeated over time, formed my guiding principles and my life roadmap. Bottom line, it defined my worth.

My worth? Hold on, that one was a bit of a stretch. My diploma drove my worth, and my natural movement up the corporate ladder would drive my future worth. I'm not sure where along the way I learned that, but over time I found how untrue that would be.

What I instead learned was a critical guiding principle... that we are all compensated based on the size of the problems we are able to solve. Seriously? Yes. And by coincidence, I discovered it by reading new materials intended to develop such expertise.

The problem? The current information that represented my "education" was teaching me negative thinking, poor habits, lack of discipline. I was listening to complaints about the company and the inequities of the system. I was hearing that I was doing pretty good - certainly good enough. I had no time or concern for addressing the areas that were holding me back. That was lowering, not adding to, my value.

From the neck down, we are all minimum wage. That's a strong statement. The first time I heard it, it was a very convicting statement. While going about my work, I had never contemplated my value. I never contemplated my potential value. In my current position, I was being compensated based on the worth of the job I was performing. Indeed, for the size of the problems I was solving. It was my value in that role. But what was I doing to enhance that value, whether applied in that role or a future opportunity? What was I doing to exert value outside of my assigned role?

Added value comes from critical thinking, from knowledge put into action, and from the ability to influence. Even greater value comes from leverage and duplication. That added value produces profit and growth. Most often, it translates to the "soft skills." Leadership skills, if you would.

John Maxwell contends that "Leadership is influence - nothing more, nothing less."

One of my mentors shared a quote attributed to Charlie "Tremendous" Jones that, for me, made the ultimate connection: "Leaders are readers."

Critical leadership and personal skills, attributes that differentiate our value and drive our ability to influence, are rarely provided within our formal education. They are seldom delivered in a tidy seminar thereafter. More than anything, they are found through an investment of time, hard work, and perseverance.

Hard work, geared towards improvement, applied over time, leads to high achievement. An intentional self-directed education is where you learn the guiding principles that drive the greatest accomplishments.

Said another way, daily discipline, over time, produces change. Depending on the information, that can be a positive change or a negative one - the principle works the same in either direction.

Looking at the lives of successful people I studied - historical through the present day - I've found that anyone with high achievements was a voracious learner, constantly consuming positive information. In almost all cases, that learning was outside the formal education process.

What I learned was that, for me, my best chance for lasting growth and success was to constantly develop my skills in key areas - character, behavior, critical thinking, and positive attitude, just to name a few. I had to maximize my personal gifts, as well as develop and enhance a wealth of key skills, to truly compete, influence, and lead.

Almost a decade into this journey, with a lifetime of learning still ahead, I can honestly say that this pursuit has been the highest contributor to the successes I have enjoyed, the most significant source of the value, influence and impact that I provide, and the greatest reason for the hope and promise of my future.

"An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest." - Benjamin Franklin

A self-directed education is indeed the greatest investment you will ever make.