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My New Year’s Resolution For You

My New Year’s Resolution For You

Here are some thoughts for beginning 2010 with the right philosophy and mentality. (In Cole Porter’s “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” Sinatra sings, “Use your mentality, wake up to reality….”)

Remember Y2K? Not exactly going to be more than a minor blip in the footnotes in Wikipedia, is it? No airline crashes, no banks collapsed, not even the alarm clocks failed. The “swine flu” has proved to be a rather average illness, with fewer deaths than those caused by the normal, seasonal influenza. All deaths are tragedies, but we must retain proportion.

Global warming? My reading tells me that no one is really sure how much humankind is contributing or even if we can seriously alter what we are contributing. The Russians just announced plans to create rockets to engage and deflect an asteroid that’s due in the next 20 years, that most scientists estimate has one chance in 450,000 of hitting us. (The Russians are understandably sensitive, since the last rock of this sort DID hit Siberia and leveled about 80 million trees a while back.)

There are those claiming that the government is hiding aliens somewhere, and that the Mayan calendar is predicting the world’s end, and that excess spray tanning will eventually end life as we know it. (Maybe it already has—have you taken a look at some of those “stars” on “Dancing with the Stars”?!)

We can’t fall victim to the panic epidemic.

My point is that we (fueling and/or fueled by the media) have a tad of a tendency to be apocalyptic. I’m not deep enough to tell you that it’s meant to represent expiation for our sins, or redemption for our hubris, or simply deal with the fact that, basically, no one understands the universe.

I can tell you this: Live each day to the fullest you can. That needn’t be a flurry of activity, it may be spent in quiet contemplation. But it should not be subsumed in fear. It should not be wasted in constant apology, but rather invested in ongoing contribution.

We are all too ready to believe that there are huge, uncontrolled forces trying to destroy our lives or at least manipulate our futures. I’m here to tell you that’s not so, and that empirical evidence does not support such a belief system.

My computer wasn’t affected by Y2K, nor was my brain (which recognized panic and overwrought reaction at the time). I’m concerned, not detached, about the challenges we all face, but I’m much more concerned about the pragmatics of how we educate our children, take care of the helpless, and make the streets safe, than I am about claims that medium-rare cheeseburgers will kill me if that asteroid doesn’t.

Maybe I can get the Russians to work on the burger thing. They apparently have plenty of time on their hands. But, in the meantime, I’m going to enjoy everyday life, try to improve the lives of those around me, and thereby improve and enrich my own.

© Alan Weiss 2010 All rights reserved. Alan’s latest book is Thrive! Stop wishing your life away….

Written by

Alan Weiss is a consultant, speaker, and author of over 60 books. His consulting firm, Summit Consulting Group, Inc., has attracted clients from over 500 leading organizations around the world.

Comments: 6

  • Peter Bodifee

    January 1, 2010

    Amen!

  • Gareth Kane

    January 4, 2010

    I’d disagree on Global Warming. We have a pretty good idea of the scale of the human effect and we do have the technology and know how to fix it. It is one of those rare problems where the solutions are desirable anyway – energy security, stronger communities and better quality of life. Not so good for Bentley fanatics, I’d have to admit… but our reaction should be one of relishing the challenge rather than feeling the fear.

  • Alan Weiss

    January 4, 2010

    I respectfully disagree. There is no evidence that we can change global warming even if we decrease our contribution to it. We have no idea how to “fix” it, since many solutions, such as electric cars, are chimeras. I’m all for cleaning the environment and eliminating waste, but not to the point that we’re all guilty if we don’t put out a recycling bin or drive a unicycle.

  • Dennis Snow

    January 4, 2010

    I’ve found that I’ve become a news junkie and I’m not better for it. In fact, I could better use my news scouring time to focus on creating new content, books, etc.

    My resolution is that WSJ will be my primary source and only after reviewing the “What’s News” section to choose what I’ll read.

    I’ll continue to read a handful of blogs that offer conflicting opinions so I can see both sides of an argument, but no more 24/7 news for me. Unless, of course, we find out the government really IS hiding aliens. I’ll follow that story for sure.

    Dennis

  • Gareth Kane

    January 4, 2010

    If you are interested in sustainable solutions, try Natural Capitalism by Hawken, Lovins & Lovins: http://www.natcap.org/. It’s getting a bit long in the tooth but it is still a very inspiring read.

  • Alan Weiss

    January 4, 2010

    “News” should, literally, be “new.” Anything taken to an extreme—comedy, drama, passion, you name it—is going to kill you!

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