21. How We Make New Year Progress | Round Table

An inside look at what inspires us, what we are learning and how we’re planning to support each other's progress in this new year. This round table discussion takes place right after we did our 2019 annual family goal setting retreat.  

A Powerful Philosophy of Progress

Research shows that 80% of people give up on their New Year's resolutions by about the 2nd week of February!  The reason? What most people call 'resolutions' are really just desires or fun things they wish would happen. The majority of people don't actually "resolve" or declare a new standard of intent that is backed with a specific plan to accomplish it.

Why do we make these new resolutions or goals at the beginning of a new year?  Because the date on the calendar makes us feel like it is time for a  fresh start.  And it is a good opportunity to reflect on the last year and set some new intentions for the next year.

But what makes us happy is not setting new goals once a year.  What makes us happy is the process of making regular progress on those things that are important to us throughout the year.

Accomplishing things and obtaining things, is not what makes us happy. Getting money, promotions or even a new relationship that you want is not what really makes humans happy. It is PROGRESS that makes us happy. The new year is a good opportunity to decided how in this year we want to improve, grow, make progress.

Progress is not the same as change. We don't have to work on change. Most things will eventually change no matter what. Change is almost automatic. But progress is not automatic. Progress requires clear intention for a new direction or improvement AND a specific process to head in that direction.

A fulfilling life is about making progress you have determined is important to you.

But progress doesn't happen just by stating the new results you want to produce in your life.  Progress requires the right process or inputs to create the desired result.

In our apple orchard, how much good would it do if I just declared that the trees should produce better fruit?  Not much.

Here is a true saying.  "A good tree produces good fruit.  No good tree bears bad fruit."

So what does it take to make a good tree? It takes a consistent set of processes working right for that tree to be a healthy tree that produces good fruit.  A bad tree can say I want to have healthy food all it wants, but if it doesn't have the right nutrients or the right temperatures at the right time of year…the right type of pruning, the right type and amount of water and sunshine, the right photosynthesis happening in the tree… then it will not produce good fruit. No matter how much the tree wanted to produce good fruit, it won't produce good fruit if the tree isn't in a process of getting healthy. That process is different for each type of fruit tree in each type of climate. It is not a one process fits all formula for success for trees or for people.

This time of year we set intentions for the kind of good person we want to be, the kind of good life we want to have, the kind of good impact we want to make on this world. If those intentions are just resolutions or wishes without a specific set of processes to produce those good outcomes then it's like a tree saying I just want to produce better fruit but not having the right processes in place to make it a good, healthy tree.

Because of this, we like to set New Year's intentions or objectives that are supported by specific goals, processes, habits or routines that are likely to create that desired outcome.

Sometimes the specific outcome we set out to achieve does not happen. Or it doesn't happen in the time frame we had planned. But the processes we put in place to pursue that outcome will always produce some better outcome…some progress…sometime, somewhere. It may just prepare us for some other type of unanticipated outcome that we didn't even think was possible.

Resolutions sound like one-time events. You say it, and it is supposed to be done. Although stating our intention is important, success is more about the process of building a strong life…getting a little bit better each day. Life is about making progress.

A famous leadership coach named Jesus said, let me tell you what it looks like when someone listens to the good things I tell them to do and actually does them. It looks like someone who builds a house on a good foundation. And when the storms come, that house stands strong. If you dig down deep and build a foundation, when the storms come you can stand those storms.

So don't let your New Year resolutions become mere wish lists. When you truly resolve something you declare this is how it is going to be. You set a new standard. We get our standards.  We get what we believe about who we are and what we deserve.  We don't as often get our wishes.  We get what we believe must happen to align with our beliefs.  We don't get what we think should happen. Burn the bridges on the past and commit to pursue your new standard. Combine this level of commitment to a new standard with a creating and regularly updating your action plan, routines or systems and you will make exhilarating progress toward the new standards you set for your life.

THANK YOU!

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