New Year, New Crew!
Welcome back to work and welcome to 2018! We trust that you took time to recharge and rejuvenate over the break, putting rest as a priority and time with loved ones at the top of your agenda. Don’t despair if you haven’t quite shaken off the sand from the beach or the lethargic vibe of the holidays as we have a few long weekends coming your way to help ease back into it. You’ve no doubt seen ‘resolutions’ trending online and people declaring all that they will conquer over the year ahead. Don’t shake your head in a cynical manner when you read these or over-hear such enthusiastic resolves. We challenge you to listen more, become inspired by the ‘will of change’ around you and dare you to form strong provocations of your own. You may find yourself coming back to work startled by the ‘New Year, New Crew’ paradigm that seeps into vocational industries this time of year.
We aren’t insinuating that your workplace is going to be flooded with lots of new faces; however, there will be varying levels of personal change creating the “new crew” feel. Although you may not have set resolutions yourself (well not yet anyway), the same can’t be said for colleagues. Individuals who may have once been short-tempered or disengaged might appear kind, interested and downright eager to know more about your break. Embrace this. Turning a cold shoulder or look of pure shock is not exactly supportive, nor will it affirm the effort they’re putting in. An estimated 22% of people fail with their New Year's resolutions after only one week (Saad, 2009) and a further 40% let their resolutions evaporate after a month. Keep this in mind when people are sharing resolutions at the beginning of the year. Even the toughest person who harps on about not “believing in resolutions” possibly has a few quiet provocations of their own.
The plethora of platforms on which we now connect, communicate, and digest stories from have resulted in a world where ‘social norms’ and trends can become globally widespread in a matter of hours. Resolutions are far from a new concept. In fact, it is believed that the concept dates back to Rome two millennia ago where citizens generally made moral resolutions to be ‘good to others’ (Petro, 2018). But today’s network for sharing resolutions, and learning how people are tracking towards their personal targets, offers a surreal opportunity to have accountability on a mass, digital scale. In an article, published by Business Insider, Rachel Gillet describes how ‘30 Highly Successful People Share their New Year’s Resolutions for 2018’. Ranging from “fail faster and fail harder”, “cutting screen time in half”, or “never to read an email again” the resolutions shared by industry experts, including Life Coach Tony Robbins and former Apple CEO John Sculley, detail how diverse, simple or grand resolutions can be.
Some of you would have already connected the dots and cut through the disguise. A resolution is simply a goal wrapped up in the ‘magic’ of a fresh calendar year. We discussed the importance of setting clear goals in ‘Becoming a Goal Digger: Unearthing the Power of Goal Setting’. In many occupations it is mandatory to set professional goals at the start of the year, forming a strong backbone of the appraisal you later receive. However, few fail to see beyond this as an opportunity to better themselves, personally and professionally. Unclear and vague goals is a key factor in people failing to meet targets (Koestner, 2008) which goes hand in hand with how weak resolutions formed on a whim are likely to find themselves in the ‘RIP’ first-week-fail pile.
Sharing and creating a culture of accountability and support will boost the ‘New Year, New Crew’. Never underestimate the importance of checking in with a colleague on how they’re doing with their resolution(s). This earnest question could be the indirect accountability they need to keep them on track and further strengthens your own image as a person that is interested and attentive. Challenge yourself. Be present in each moment. And feel confident in the fact that the success of any provocation you set ultimately lays in your own hands.
“New Year, New You.”