CLOSING DOORS | Hello 2018

It’s a wrap. The doors of the year 2017 are officially closed.

With memories of the past twelve months still lingering we are advertised the opportunity to reflect, review and resolve. Baby, it ain't over till it's over, not only Lenny but also clever marketers know, and Spotify has created a soundtrack for this, a playlist of The Ones That Got Away - songs that we missed/wished we’d discovered earlier in the year.

In retrospect, there are a few things we too may wish we had come across sooner: Done better, so we would feel better. Be better. More successful, smarter, sexier. Closer to perfect.

Luckily, Day 4 of the brand new year (you) is yet feeling fresh like the first snow, a virgin canvas to imprint those big steps and (re)set grand proclamations. This year, this time. We will be the best version of ourselves. We make resolutions, map our business and personal goals, write lists and sign up with a hell yeah to every promising new year, new you class.

Launching into 2018 with an internal battle cry, we are determined to flip the table before the door of this year forever closes.
But what is that come March, most of these grand aspirations are forgotten, postponed (till we have time), and by the end of the year joined the broken promises club of the preceding years? Studies have shown that only 8% of all New Year‘s Resolutions are achieved.

Being somewhat subscribed to becoming a better human myself, it leaves me wondering: Maybe, just maybe we have never set ourselves up in a way that would lead to accomplishing our goals in the first place.

Because we overestimate and underestimate. Overestimate our capacity and underestimate our human nature.

Naturally, we want to progress, and no one wants to stay the same year after year. (Although, I feel a little more French Laisser-faire would give us some of the nonchalant, effortless glow that comes from not being so tense and determined all the time.)

Yet, too many, too rigid resolutions are, as the most recent iteration of the popular All State insurance ad pictures, mayhem. Life is only so predictable as we stay within our comfort zone. When we choose to grow - uncertainty is our most loyal companion. Even the best business models, vision boards or flight plans encounter surprises.
Smart business leaders know that anticipating potential surprises and changes in the business environment are key to long term success, providing the organization with the necessary flexibility in the event of the unexpected.

So what if we too were to premeditate our humanness, and account for the inevitable hurdles that appear along the way of those earnest targets?
Be just a little more forgiving, less ambitious, less rigid with ourselves. Build in agility, flexibility. Be okay with failing. Create a life with the conditions for us to thrive, weave in sustainability.

And close doors more frequently, deliberately. Not just when the last digit on the calendar changes. The doors to saying yes to too many things; the doors to be quiet when we need to; to relationships in business and our personal lives that aren’t necessarily great for either party involved (instead of leaving an opportunistic “maybe” gap open).  

The doors to setting unrealistic expectations for ourselves and others. This doesn't deny going for the big pie in the sky, rather it puts a focus on cultivating the patience for unfolding brilliance, for doors opening unexpectedly.

What doors are you willing to close?

In oneself lies the whole world and if you know how to look and learn, the door is there and the key is in your hand. Nobody on earth can give you either the key or the door to open, except yourself. - Jiddu Krishnamurti