If you read last week’s three thoughts you already know that recently I had to say goodbye to my cat Charlotte of 17 years. It’s incredible how much attachment we as humans can have to animals and how much they provide for us over the years. Certainly they give us more than we give, when you consider the emotional support and unbending loyalty they they have for their humans.
Most often when I am looking for fulfillment I turn to my hobbies, which over the course of my life have changed and evolved. Currently I have three or four primary hobbies. I paint, write, learn Italian, and garden.
Our society puts an emphasis on fast. Hustle culture will get you promoted. We look at headlines in the news and make snap judgements without reading the article. We are constantly getting barraged with ads. On average we see about 5000 advertisements a day in one form or another. You don’t have to drive very far down the road from wherever you live in this country to know that America is the fast food capital of the world. Track builders can build a house in mere weeks these days.
There are certainly cycles in life when it feels like others are “getting ahead” of you and you feel like you need to make a move. Maybe it has been a while since your last big promotion. Or you look on social media and four of your friends got a new job, three are having kids, two are getting married, and a partridge in a pear tree!
This year I am stepping away from traditional New Year’s goals. I’m not going to lose ten pounds, I’m not going to become fluent in Italian and I am not going to go viral with the Human Constant. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t mind doing all of those things but I have had those “resolutions” before and I don’t typically hit the goal, or I forget about it by February and move on to something else.
The end of the year is quickly coming to a close and this is the time of the year that people start to ease into the holidays and take stock of the year that was. While more people are likely to make New Year’s resolutions than look at their year in review, the two are really symbiotic if you want to maximize your momentum going into next year.
Everyone romanticizes about taking the big risk. Pack up shop, sell the house and move to Europe and start the life of your dreams! I definitely have found myself falling into that category more and more over the last several years. Don’t like your job? Just quit! When reality sets it, rarely is it that simple and also very easy for others to tell YOU to take the risk, but it’s not their life at stake if the risk doesn’t pay off.
Did you hear? Reading Rainbow is coming back! For those of us of a certain age, this show brings back memories of LeVar Burton narrating our childhood. Also of the “Book It” reading contest that we all participated in during elementary school that ended in a promise of a Pizza Hut pizza party in exchange for books read.
Starting a new habit may be one of the harder leadership challenges but perhaps one of the most important. Learning how to start a positive habit is key to being able to follow through in doing the things you want to do to thrive and feel fulfilled. As James Clear writes in his book, Atomic Habits, it really is all about starting the action that makes sure you get to the finish line.
Music has been an integral part of my life as long as I can remember and one of the things I gravitate towards most to ground me in the present. Music can really set the mood to whatever suits the moment in really profound ways.