Beat Year Yet

It was one of those days…the alarm was set incorrectly so it went off too late; Isabelle woke up on the wrong side of the bed; oatmeal bubbled over on the stove; the dog tripped me up because he was hungry and was “informing me” with a nose nudge as I was walking across the kitchen; I was out of soap in the shower so had to use my husband’s (I smell very manly today).  And I could go on.  I finally gave in to the chaos and sent a text to work—“I’m going to be in around 9 a.m. today. See you then.”  I drank a cup of coffee while drying my hair and made it by 8:30.

You may be wondering, “What’s her point?”  The point is, “without conscious and deliberate effort, inertia always wins.”   (Tony Hsieh wrote this in his book, Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose.)  Today I’m at risk of being overcome by inertia.  I did not set myself up for success today when I didn’t double check my alarm.  I forgot to leave myself a list of “three big rocks” to conquer first thing this morning so I’m struggling to feel grounded, purposeful and strategic.  And I did not ask my future self what I wanted my day to look like and plan accordingly.  Instead, I’ve allowed inertia to dictate my morning and recovering is a challenge.

Each of us has the opportunity every day to put our best conscious and deliberate effort forward to create the life we want for ourselves.  A life that feels productive and rewarding—one we can be proud of and that ultimately makes us happy.  If we don’t harness that opportunity, life will happen anyway, and you will get caught up in the inertia.

In order to avoid inertia and be successful, each and every one of us has to put forth our best conscious and deliberate effort.  We have to be accountable to ourselves an those we care about so we can most effectively change our lives and positively impact the lives of those around us.  Make the year ahead your BEST year yet!