New Year, New Ideas, New Attitudes, New Beginnings.

Can anyone think of the last time they vowed that this year will be different, and then it actually happened? In my experience, vowing that things will be different doesn't necessarily lead to anything changing. What really helps to promote change is changing the way we think about things. Let me give you an example:

I have spent the better portion of my adult life declaring that I am not a morning person. The idea of getting up early to do anything was repulsive to me. I'm a night owl. I'm not productive until that third cup of coffee is down. No meetings before 10 a.m. Are you beginning to get the idea? So when I began working on my own, the ugly truth began to come out. I need to start being productive earlier. I can't wait until 10 or 11 to get working on things. Life seems to wake up at 8:30, and doesn't really recognize that you need some time to get going.

This year, I have vowed that office hours will start no later than 9 a.m. I'm going to push myself to make it 8:30, but I'm giving myself wiggle room. Running and exercise need to happen early in the day. I never feel like my day has started until I've exercised, and if you don't exercise until noon, that leads to some unproductive time. So exercise and running needs to be done by 8:00-8:30. I'm going to gradually make it earlier as the year goes along and the sun comes up earlier. Finally, I've vowed that I will make sure something substantial gets accomplished before lunch every day. That difficult phone call, that paperwork that needs organizing, these blog posts, etc. Lunch will be a celebration of a productive morning that helps me move closer to my goals.

It's not going to be easy developing this new relationship with the morning, but I'm committed to trying to make it work.