“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: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones

First of all, please accept my personal apologies for publishing last week's Wednesday Weblog on Tuesday. There is no excuse for getting ahead, being early, having it ready to go a day early and then hitting 'submit.' I know, because several people shared with me, that a Tuesday edition of a Wednesday Weblog caused them to look at the calendar to make sure they weren't losing a day. All I can say, is that I cannot find a word to follow 'Tuesday' as the title of this missive. Maybe 'Tuesday Tidbits' but that doesn't sound modern enough. If you come up with something, let me know and I will consider a move.

Second, it has been a while since I thanked you for reading this.

Appreciatively,

Ed

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 20 months of confusion and discord, 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 is to have hope but step 2 is to rely on more 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 this 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 2020 and 2021 gifts would be pretty damn long.

A good question is what will you be saying about your 2022 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 parts of a pandemic, by spending your time on the right things.

Here's a recipe to make one right thing for you to spend time on in 2022 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?

ME: As an example, I have always loved to read, but sometimes life gets in the way. My one thing for 2021 was to restart a reading habit and read business, history and self-development books as well as fiction from my favorite authors. (Only people who read a lot have favorite authors).

+ PLAN: Since I anticipated driving between 20,000 and 25,000 miles per year and running about 500 miles in training, I came up with a plan to listen to audio books instead of music or sports talk radio as my new habit for 2022. Don't get me wrong, I have been listening to audio books for a while, but not really using the Mass Turnpike as the venue.

+ A LITTLE DETERMINATION: I just checked for this story, to see how I did with my 2022 'one thing' and it looks like I listened to 20 books during the year.

(I did not receive compensation for any of these reviews)

+ 365 DAYS: Did you know that there are 8,760 hours in a year? According to the website Quora, the average audiobook is between 6 and 12 hours long. That means that I spent between 120 and 240 hours listening or between 1.4% and 2.7% of my year on the habit. Such a small price to pay for so much pleasure.

= A RIGHT THING: Those books not only helped me while parked on Interstate 95 during traffic jams but helped me stay alert on some late-night drives after long days. They helped me train for a marathon and furthered my knowledge of history and more. Plus, I enjoyed the hell out of most of the books: they all made me think.

I wouldn't say that I am better at listening to audiobooks today than at this time last year: that wasn't the goal. What I am better at now is integrating business and pleasure in a way that sharpens me and gives me a version of reading that was just not possible with the demands of my world. I have figured out another way to use my time better. Scary, I know.

But, just to repeat: imagine if that one thing you are better at today compared to last year was actually part of a plan? You would be awesome, n’est pas?

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 2022 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).

I haven't decided on my one thing yet but becoming a Tik Tok dancer made the final four last year. I think it is more likely that I will become a weightlifter since that will give me two years to get ready for the Paris Olympics in 2024, and I've already started. I've also started taking an advanced course in Microsoft Excel so watch out numbers geeks. Ok, maybe as an overachiever, I'll plan to get better at two things.

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 than a year ago at this time.

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 2022, because if I don't, there's no refund.

Yes, it is me. Around 2001.

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