The number 12 has a long history – we have 12 months, 12 hours, 12 signs of the zodiac, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 Apostles, 12 Successors, or the 12 Imams. There are the 12 days of Christmas, The Twelve Great Feasts, and the 12 Petals of Anahata. The number 12 represents the entirety of the Cosmos – it is the product of the number 3 (earth, heaven, underworld) times the number 4 (the four cardinal points, the four winds, the four elements).
The yearly Ourobouros – see the image of the snake eating it’s tail – when the twelfth month turns into the first, is a nice time to make a clean break from both good and bad of the previous year.
I have never published a list of res… of res… I just can’t get the word out… of resolutions. There that’s it. I’ve never published a list of resolutions before, but in the spirit of clean breaks and fresh starts, here – forthwith – is a list of 12 resolutions – for me and, if they interest, intrigue and inspire you – for you.
1 Learn from my mistakes
This year, I will learn from my mistakes. It is getting tiresome to continue making some of the same ones over and again, so this year – I’m going to examine my actions closely and understand the results they produce. And, I vow, to examine my proposed actions and consider the possible ramifications in light of what has worked and not worked in the past.
2. Value my time
I don’t know about you, but when my guard is down, it is quite easy for large blocks of time to slip by without anything of value happening. Jeffrey Lant, in his book Cash Copy, did a calculation for us, which goes something like this: Let’s assume you have 20 good working years left. That means you have 20 years x 12 months x 20 working days x 8 hours x 60 minutes – or 2,304,000 minutes of productive time left. How much of that do you want to waste checking email?
3. Get organized with a system that works, and keep it up.
This needs no explanation. And just to add to it, make sure your backups are always up to date.
4. Read something useful everyday, and something important at least once a week.
I don’t manufacture anything. The value I provide is in the realm of thought and to increase that value, I read voraciously. Of all my resolutions, this one is the easiest for me to keep. It could be anything – general business, history, biography, science, technology, psychology, philosophy, even marketing. Those tend to be my choices.
5. Meet someone new
Ssome people call this networking, but that seems to suck the humanity out of it. At least once a week, go to a meeting, have lunch with someone, reach out to a colleague…
6. Find ways to provide more value
It’s been said that the surest way to earn more is to provide more value. Ask youself how, and then do something about it.
7. Express my gratitude.
Be thankful for the bounty and the abundance in my life. Recognize just how great things are, even if there are times when you think it’s simply not true.
8. Find ways to reach more people
Not sure about you, but one of my goals is to impact people. And here more IS better.
9. Journal Daily
To make sure that each day’s events and learnings whatever they may be, get captured rather than allowed to simply drift away.
10. Don’t rail against the wind
Understand and accept the prevailing conditions, then mold them to my vision This is not to live in denial, but to realize that the only thing that matters about the current reality is how I deal with it.
11. Accept no negativity
This one is hard, people are going to be who they are and do what they’re going to do. Perhaps the better resolution is accept no negativity from myself. Still hard…
12. Never give up.
They say that failure is temporary, and only becomes permanent when you quit trying.
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