My EVERY Year's Resolution

By show of hands how many of you reading this post have already defaulted on your New Year’s resolution to work out 55 times per week? You know who you are—you bought all new workout gear and pre-paid that gym membership for the entire year. It’s cool. I feel your pain because I’m one of you. I’m an abundance of energy, enthusiasm and new ideas. But pure discipline? Not so much.

Well today as I was working from my home studio, I decided it was time to break and grab a bite to eat. The plan was to drive a couple miles down the road to an unnamed national sandwich shop chain. But as I got into the car, my always finicky palate was screaming “Don’t want a sandwich! Don’t want a sandwich! Don’t want a sandwich!” Plan A aborted.

Then I remembered I had recently read glowing Yelp reviews for a cafe not too far from my place. So I made a small (and seemingly inconsequential) decision to instead go to this cafe for lunch. And as I was en route, I realized that this small decision actually had three pretty substantial impacts.

1. The cafe was local, so I opted to leave my car parked and just walk there. So without having pre-planned it, I ended up getting a brisk walk, and some much-appreciated sunlight and fresh air. I love walking, but hate cold weather. So I need to be hitting the foot trail on any Chicagoland day in January when it’s actually warm enough to walk. Investing in a healthier me: check.

2. By not using my car, I also didn’t use any gas. But more importantly, I didn’t pump any CO2 emissions into the air for this trip. Now will this one walk significantly impact the landscape of climate change? No. But what if I could turn at least one drive per week into a walk? And what if just a third of the people who own a vehicle could turn one drive per week into a walk? Now we’re talking about global change! Investing in a better planet: check.

3. I ended up patronizing a locally-owned cafe in my neighborhood. This is a business that pays taxes here, that employs people here, and quite honestly, that contributes my enjoyment of living here. I remember being a teenager and my father trying to explain to me the concept of spending money in your own community while I rolled my eyes and thought about how he was majorly killing my carefree adolescent buzz. But now, over 25 years later, I get finally it. Investing in a better community: check.

What’s the takeaway? My seemingly trivial lunch decision reminded me that big movements always begin with small steps. For me (as I suspect is true for some of you reading this), it’s all about getting started—even if impractically, even if imperfectly. So my theme for the forthcoming year and for every year is to “Think Big. Start Small.”

I hope you’ll do the same. I’m sending good vibes your way for a groundbreaking 2020 in life, in business and in your community.

GTall signing off.