It’s that time of year when we make largely unfulfilled promises about how we’ll be better in the next 365 days than we were in the year or lifetime past. I’m not big on resolutions, so there’ll be no promises here to spend less, save more, get off the computer or work out. In fact, today is the last day of my gym membership after years of consistent grunting and sweating. It’s not that I’m giving up exercise, I just can get it done for less than $600 per year. Rather than opt for the grandeur of an annual made-to-be-broken resolution, I try to improve myself a little bit every day.

Most of the cliché resolutions like smoking cessation or diet don’t make it to halftime of the Rose Bowl. Steve Levinson, co-author of the book Following Through says, “One in four resolutions bites the dust within a week. About half of them are gone within a month.” Why? It’s just really hard for human beings to change. For more on the difficulty of implementing change for individuals and organizations, check out Strategy and the Fat Smoker by professional services guru, David Maister. It’s at a site called changethis.com that’s filled with creative “manifestos” on a variety of interesting topics.

Yesterday, after a nice run over the rolling hills of the golf course that is the back yard of my brothers home in West Chester, PA, I absorbed “Who Moved My Cheese,” by Spencer Johnson, MD. Certainly not everyone appreciated the tome, but I’ve spent less productive hours, and discovering one page was worth my time…

Think about that question… What would you do if you weren’t afraid?

Would you:
– risk speaking the truth?
– get a new job?
– start that business?
– leave a dead-end relationship and move on?
– talk to her/him?
– say “I love you?”
– write the book?
– step up?

What would you do?

In 2007, I hope you all have the courage to fully embrace the potential of your life.

“Our doubts are traitors,
and make us lose the good we oft might win,
by fearing to attempt.”
– William Shakespeare