The Value of Resolutions Made Public

I completely forgot about the resolution I made last year (December 2, 2007 to be exact – why wait for the New Year’s rush?) to write the magnum opus.  It must have been simmering on the back burner as the thousand and one priorities got in the way because as the year wore on Jack and I returned to working through details.  We even submitted a proposal a couple of weeks ago.  Now, with two days to go before year’s end, it is almost complete.

Did it happen because of the resolution?  Or despite it?

Human nature being what it is, we are so often our own worst enemy.  We refuse to listen to reason, choking off the wisdom of our own inner voice.  We take our hard-won power and toss it away like trash.  And we fight our most positive impulses with a hodge-podge of anxiety, conflict and confusion.

I’d like to think I did it because I promised you I would and I like to keep my word.  So I’ll give you this one for 2009.  Words.  I’ll be back with a lot more of them.

Networking for the New Year (and beyond)

I was talking with some people last week who were trying to define “relationship” in the context of networking as a step to defining how to value those relationships.  It was one of those conversations that seems to go on forever and get nowhere because people aren’t thinking in terms of outcome but are getting tied up in their own words.  The next day I was emailing with someone else who wanted to know what had been accomplished and I wrote out my operational definition.  I like it so much (as did the other person) I’m going to do the ultimate narcissistic act I hate doing and will quote myself:

“A relationship is a connection. When you connect one of your relationships to another, you create a new node on the relationship network. The more nodes you create and the stronger they are, the more value you have brought to your entire network.” – Dr. Janice Presser

One of the up and coming New Year’s resolutions I keep hearing from people is that they are going to get out and network more.  I used to just try to bite my tongue and not ask rude questions like, are you out of work?  This year I’m going to focus on creating value for my whole network.  So please, even if the person I introduce to you is not an experienced networker (that is, they haven’t yet learned to offer something to you, too) would you try to help them?  I’ll respect you for it and even if they don’t give you something of value, I’ll try to.  Or, if this works as I believe it does, someone else – another node-creator – will.

Happy 2008!

The end is coming

Of the year, that is, not the world.

I usually don’t think about my New Year’s resolutions until at least the 29th of December, but I was interviewed by ExecuNet on “A New Career for the New Year?” for their CareerSmart Advisor and the article came out a week or so ago, so I’ve started early. It’s easier to give advice than take it, of course, but I’m going to try to give myself some advice on my big resolution for 2008. I’m finally going to write the magnum opus on the theory that underlies all the products and services of The Gabriel Institute. So, here forth, my advice to myself, which I hope you might find applicable to whatever it is that you are going to resolve to do this year.

• It doesn’t have to all be done at once. There is a writing standard I followed a long time ago (when I wrote my other books) of doing five new pages a day. What I learned was that doesn’t add up to 35 pages a week or even 25 so you may as well be realistic and double your overly optimistic time schedule. This particularly applies to losing weight.
• It will be better if you don’t try to control it. A book, like many other projects, needs to develop a personality of its own. It has your voice, but it’s an individual. Actually, this need it will have to “breathe” is going to be responsible for some of that time you’ll need in the last point. If your resolutions involve other people, like a child, a spouse, a friend, this definitely applies to you.
• The more people involved, as long as they are truly invested in the outcome, the better the results. This will, of course, be a team effort. My earlier books were too, but the team was formed to get the book out, not before. Investment takes time – and trust, respect and faith. If you have that, whatever your resolution, it will be more likely to succeed.

Okay, I’m ready for the end – and the beginning!