Top Ten Tips

“In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is.”   Yogi Berra

HOT READS FOR THE PRACTITIONER

Title: Managing Your New Year’s Resolution

Competencies: self-development; self-control

Who benefits: you

Consultant Usage: background material for coaches and trainers

What’s it about?  I am ending January by writing my final entry about possible New Year’s Resolutions.  In theory, there are any number of possible resolutions.  In practice, most of them have been written about ad nauseam.  What can I possibly contribute?

Then I read that the US government has jumped into the resolutions business.  I thought to self (that’s what I call Me), hey maybe the government is on to something (and just not “on something”).  So I linked over to their website, and lo and hark, there it is … 10 new year’s resolutions (actually 12 resolutions adjusted for inflation) just waiting for adoption.

Nothing new about them, but there are tips for success related to each one.  So I thought I would end the month by adding some other tip sites for some of the most common of the resolutions.

No smoking!  My mother was the queen of how to stop smoking.   She gave up that filthy habit over 1,000 times.  Each time so pleased with herself.   If you need this resolution, maybe you can stop with less “do-overs” than mom with some assistance from down under.  Try some of the 10 tips Auzzie style on myDr.

Manage debt! Hmmm, there may be some good ideas here for me.  I really like this article for its maturity and depth: 10 bad habits that lead to debt disaster.

Reduce stress at work!  My solution to this one was to stop working.  If that isn’t a viable alternative for you, try this simple but comprehensive article: Managing Job Stress: 10 Strategies for Coping and Thriving at Work.

Volunteer to help others!  Hey I spend a lot of time doing this.  It’s a great feeling!  There are places everywhere to lend a hand.  The choices seem endless, but if you would like to add this resolution to your list, you can find some great ideas in your local area (USA) at VolunteerMatch or if you are more adventurous but still want to limit yourself to this planet, try the “granddaddy” of international volunteer programs Global Volunteers International.

Finally, consider this from David Chernoff:  “A New Year’s Resolution is a temporary commitment to alter something that we should have fixed long ago but were too lazy or complacent, to which we will give up on once we realize that change is hard.”  He has a wonderfully provocative article called “Top Ten New Year’s Resolutions of 2010 – That May Leave You Disappointed and Depressed” which certainly puts a different light on resolution making.

So maybe new year’s resolutions aren’t for everyone.  Whether you made any this year or not and whether you are keeping them or not, have a very happy and healthy 2010.

Catch you later.

[tags]new year’s resolutions, stop smoking, quit smoking, manage debt, stress, stress at work, manage stress, volunteer, volunteer locally, volunteer internationally, david chernoff, bill bradley, william bradley, bradley[/tags]

 

Bill Bradley

Bill Bradley (mostly) retired after 35 years in organizational consulting, training and management development. During those years he worked internally with seven organizations and trained and consulted externally with more than 90 large and small businesses, government agencies, hospitals and schools.