Resolution vs Revolution

As you cruise Facebook someone will inevitably ask you for your New Year’s resolutions.

Usually our answers include more balance into our lives, to work less and enjoy life more. This means different things to different people, but most share a common thread — to manage multiple responsibilities at work, at home and in the world, without guilt, or regret.

To be resolute means to be purposeful, determined, and unwavering in your intent and action. It implies commitment– dedicated and determined. Yet often, commitment takes a back seat to convenience, comfort and complacency. Research shows that the percentage of people who maintain New Year’s resolutions falls sharply as the weeks go by. A Journal of Clinical Psychology study showed that over a third of New Year’s resolutions are abandoned by the end of the first month.

Seems the only thing easier than making a commitment is breaking one.

But what if I asked you for your New Year’s Revolution? That’s right. What would a forcible overthrow of the status quo or the social order in favor of a new life look like? Or if that’s too strident for you, what would a complete revolution of your life wheel realize?

Resolution vs Revolution. Taking a page out of our Power Tools course, let’s look at which perspective has more power and punch? More energy, enthusiasm and excitement. Sometimes to make a change in our lifestyle we need to take it on with the fervor and fight of a revolt. A mutiny and rebellion.

That’s what it took for me. It took a revolution. I wanted a lifestyle with no bosses, established work hours, sick time or vacation day restrictions. A life where I was helping people and myself at the very same time with rewards I could only imagine.

I resolved to do this for 4 straight years with slower-than-detectable-by-the-human-eye progress. No so bad. Small steps often lead to bigger and bigger ones or, in my case, a revolution. And one day I spun my life wheel a complete 360 degrees and began to create a life with more meaning and momentum.

This turned out to be coaching. Supporting people across the globe from the comfort of my home, car or holiday beach rental. Meeting folks from different cultures and visiting them in their native communities. Hosting them in my New York City backyard while learning the true meaning of gracious hospitality and the gift of giving.

I had more time and patience for my family and friends and I was far more relaxed and carefree than I could ever remember.

It all started with my enrollment in ICA. A big step for an out-of-work communications director with bills totally 5 figures, a husband recovering from a serious fall, and a 12- year old who was on the verge of her own revolution – adolescence.

If your resolutions for the new year truly reflect a real desire for something better – a change in lifestyle and behavior that bring about greater happiness than this is your call to arms so to speak. Fire away at all the excuses, rationalizations and fear and storm the barricades! The fight is so worth it. Trust me.