I Resolve...No Shame in Trying Again

I remember clearly when I was still in school, that at the beginning of each year I would make a covenant with myself to do all my homework. In fact I would go as far as working ahead, for the first few weeks, which for some reason had a knack of fooling newer teachers into believing that I loved homework, which I did not. I think you know what happened next....

My natural inclination to easily be distracted, to be too slow to take down the homework in the first place, to "forget my book at home" took over. Within the first two months, my resolve was broken, year after year, after year.

It is not much different when you grow older. How often have you started a year resolving to be better at using your desk calender, or wall calender, or year planner, or diary? And let's be honest - we do magical things that we may not have thought possible...for a few weeks. But then, our natural inclination takes over, our brilliance in the first few weeks is no longer held dear to us. We skip a day or two, we break our routine. We may even try again - once. And then, it is too difficult or less important to get back up.

Toward the latter half of last year I was invited by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health to be a part of their provincial Health Promotion Strategy Team. I quickly realised they were serious about Health Promotion, when we were gently asked to begin workshops with testing for Body Mass Index (BMI), blood pressure, diabetes, etc. So, what did I take away from the workshop?

Taebo! Mornings worked well, 10-15 minutes for the first few weeks. A bout of flu, stirred with an elixer of laziness, mixed with a faded memory of why I started Taebo in the first place broke my resolve. Throw in the holidays, some delicious chocolate cake, and it is now tough to try again.

But WAIT A MINUTE....This is a new year! I can start again. Actually I will start again! There is no shame in picking oneself up. Babies do it all the time. Ten minutes in the morning - how difficult can it be?

The lessons we learn from our own experiences build up our resolve in business. Good leadership involves a bit of self reflection. We cannot guarantee, not falling down, meeting goals, objectives, targets. But, it is a new year with new goals, new objectives, new targets. We can try again!