“When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that last blow that did it—but all that had gone before.” ― James Clear, Atomic Habits

While there are a lot of great readers, there is a reader in Minnesota who views this Weblog on LinkedIn and every week, or let's say 50 of the 52 weeks, she is the first to like it or comment on it.

Her name is Toni and we worked together in the 90's for a couple of years. She went on to bigger and greater things than I have, and I've always taken pride in her accomplishments because I know that some of those heart-to-heart conversations we had, back in the day, may have made a difference.

So, coming from the heart, thanks Toni, keep reading, I really appreciate you.

Every year at this time we get a brand spanking new gift: a 365-day year stretching out in front of us. After the last 12 months most of us are hoping for a brighter upcoming year.

But in the true spirit of cliches that I embrace: "Hope is not a management tool." So, step 1 may be to have hope, but step 2 is to rely on more than hope to make it a good year.

The year can slip away fast and, just like last year at this time, we are mere months away from saying “Can you believe it is May already?” Or “Can you believe it is Halloween already?”

Right now, we can’t say any of those things, although we can say “Do you believe it is the new year already?”

But our main attention should probably be on unwrapping that 365-days of gifts staring us in the face on January 1st.

We all know, almost intuitively, that the 'new' year brings something 'new' to our life: it could be a new baby, a new car, a new friend, a new husband, a new running event, a new role, a new gym, a new boss, a new pair of shoes, a new shirt, a new book, a new job, a new grandchild, a new trip, a new guitar, a new hobby, a new favorite TV show, or a new tub (gave my wife one for Christmas last year. I got a better reaction than the new water heater in 2020).

But how exactly do you 'unwrap' the gifts of a new year?

If you think of the new year as a stack of Gift Cards, rather than a simple gift, each with one day loaded on it in a 'use it or lose it' format, you'd be right on track.

If you don't use the gift of one day that is on a card, you can't get a refund: once the day is gone, it is spent, and you can't get it back.

If we could get refunds on days spent or days wasted or days unused, the line for refunds on the last couple years of gift cards would be pretty damn long.

A good question is what will you be saying about your 2023 gift card usage one year from now? It depends on how you spend the gift cards each day (more than your ability or skill or willingness). It doesn’t matter how good you are, if you spend your gift cards and days on the wrong things, you won’t be happy.

Sometimes it is hard to remember, you have more say and more impact on how YOUR year goes than anyone else. You can overcome poor leadership, adverse weather, strong competition and poor support and yes, even a recession, by spending your time on the right things.

Here's a recipe to make one right thing for you to spend time on in 2023 that only requires four ingredients: you, a plan, a little determination, and 365 days. For those of you who are right brained (or is it left brained) the formula looks like this:

This simple formula for unwrapping the gift of time can ensure that a year from now, you will be happier with your year in at least one way.

Here’s what some call ‘irrefutable evidence’ of the validity of the formula. Think back to your personal skill set or habits one year ago. Remember you then? Are you better at anything than you were then? Better at watching Netflix doesn't count.

I am certain you ARE better in at least one attribute today than you were then. It could be your fitness or weight, or it could be you have a puppy and have learned to talk gibberish, or maybe you even learned something in school. (Learning in school? Rare, I know, but still possible).

What I can also guess about that one thing you are better at today is that you didn’t plan on being better at that specific thing today, it…just…happened.

Imagine how good you would be if that improvement was planned, instead of accidental or organic?

Here’s the thought: don’t feel bad about not setting New Year’s Resolutions or breaking them.

Instead pick just one thing and put together a little plan, just between you and you, to get better at that one thing this year.

Better than you’ve ever been. Call it a self-development plan if you need a title or call it a sh*t prevention plan. What you do is more important than what you call it.

What to choose? Well, a good place to start might be whatever would make the biggest impact on your world if it was better?

Your one right thing in 2023 could be learning more social media, or scrambling eggs, or doing the dishes, or being on time (you know who you are) or public speaking or returning the shopping cart to the corral instead of leaving it in the parking lot (you also know who you are).

Stepping out of the box, becoming a Tik Tok dancer made my final four in 2021. In 2022 I worked on being a weightlifter to get ready for the Paris Olympics in 2024.

I considered taking guitar lessons so I can play at some of the country bars i visit on a regular basis. Only kidding, my 'one thing' for 2023 is to learn more about publishing a book.

You don’t need an army or an expert or a coach or a mentor to get better, although they all are helpful. You just need you, a plan, a sprinkling of determination and a stack of 365 days of gift cards.

Since you already have you, and the 365 days of gift cards ready to go, it looks like a little plan and a little determination are all that’s needed, and you are on your way to being significantly better at that one thing a year from now.

Gotta go, I think I left a shopping cart in a parking lot, and I have to get ready to unwrap the first gift card of 2023, because if I don't, there's no refund.

This cardboard creature greets you when entering the corporate offices of Humboldt Storage and Moving in Canton, a company that uses a lot of boxes. Note the partial wall of awards in the background, a combination of industry and community recognition plaques and citations.

Great company slogan below. Especially the 'get moving' part.

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