Here at Chapman and Company, we believe that New Year’s Resolutions are necessary and important for several reasons.  First, resolutions identify the important values in your life.  What are the things about which you care enough that you would set a goal?  What are the things that you feel you are doing that need to be changed?  Second, even if you fail at achieving the stated goal, the purpose of setting the goal is often to create mindfulness of a bad (or good) behavior.  This creates a means for you to mindfully address your issue in the new year.  Third, as a strategic tool, goal setting is generally a good way to get organized and focused.  Again, in many ways, it is the process of goal-setting more than the actual achievement of the goal that uncovers personal behavior attributes.

 For that reason, we are going to talk a little bit about our New Year’s Resolutions and 2018 goals.  Internally, we asked people to set some goals tied to specific categories of topics:

 -         Health

-         Wealth

-         Wisdom 

      Talent/Skill Building

 For many, the goal of health is premised on a variety of factors – such as feeling and looking better, living longer, and achieving more out of life, for example.  “I am never drinking again” – is a common New Year’s Day declaration.  However, the true fabric of healthy goals (or any goals) is achievability and sustainability.

 For example, waking up at 4am to work out may be an excellent goal and look good on the board, but it is probably not sustainable in the long-term.  Instead, setting a goal to get up early with a target goal of getting up incrementally earlier throughout the year may be more achievable and more sustainable.

 This goes for food goals also.  The key is to create achievable and sustainable goals – not just ones that sound great or break you out of a routine.  Incorporating a healthy snack to reduce candy cravings is an easier change than suddenly eliminating all sugar cold-turkey.

 For wealth, the company’s goal is to do a better job of creating organization investment tools and savings plans.  As a startup, we do not have a 401(k) or meaningful benefits.  Our goal in 2018 is to get to the point where we have some benefits with a road map to creating more in 2019 and beyond.  Specifically, my hope is to establish an organized company savings program. 

 Wisdom is about learning.  One key value that we have at Chapman and Company is the idea that we should be constantly learning about relevant elements of our business or related topics.  Specifically, my goal for 2018 is to read seventy-five books.  This is achievable for me.  I have twice surpassed the century club figure of 100 books in a year.  Also, I define read as both visually read a book/kindle AND listen to a book on Audible (or a similar service – our library uses Overdrive).  However, beyond the pure counting of 75 books, I want to substantively improve some key areas of my mind.  I am going to try to read more (which is to say – something) on reflection/meditation/prayer regularly and on topics that are outside my normal interests (so I am working through some book reviews to find some how-to books) and on some social topics around which I would like to get better understanding.

 Finally, talents.  I think that many people will establish a goal such as learning a language or playing the guitar.  I have tried this in the past.  And I really only speak English and cannot play the guitar to save my life.  I’d love to learn – and at times in my life, I have been reasonably adequate at both of those things.  But, both require significant time and energy to practice.  I have neither.  Sad, but true.

 Instead, I am going to try to learn how to make Thai “yellow curry chicken” (Kari – not sour) well and consistently.  It is one of the few dishes that is 1) gluten free (and no iodine), 2) lactose free, 3) liked by all six of my children.  I like this goal because it is an improvement over the way I have cooked this dish in the past, and I’m stretching myself to be a more diversified chef at home.  On a weekly basis, I prepare food for my family approximately 3-4 hours of the week.  Most of this is simple preparation for a crockpot or making pancakes.  But, once every couple of weeks, I make a real meal from scratch.  I want to have a collection of signature dishes that are uniquely my own – so that when my kids return for break they will ask for my meatballs or my yellow curry chicken. 

Consider our efforts at creating an actionable plan for ourselves, and maybe try to apply those ideas to your own efforts.  We wish you success with your own resolutions, by making them 

-          Achievable

-          Sustainable

-          Mentally Enriching

-          Somewhere Where You Already Spend Time

 May you and your company discover and achieve your resolutions for 2018!