Saturday, January 2, 2010

A Simple Resolution...A Huge Impact?

It's that time of year again. New Year's. Time to beat your brow and comb your brain to come up with a resolution that will really blow away not only you, but everyone who knows about it. Easier said than done, right?

Wrong!

With an assist from a good friend, I think I've come across resolution numero uno, year in and year out. Decade to decade. Century to century.

Be. More. Awesome.

That's right. 3 simple words that, if approached correctly, can change your life. It will apply to each day and in every situation. Just break it down.

You want to lose a few pounds, put on some muscle, and generally become a better physical version of yourself? Be more awesome. Go to the weight room and challenge yourself to lift more than you ever have. Get on the track and make yourself run more than you think you can. Look at that dinner plate and leave just a little more than you're used to leaving.

You want to get a good job or do better at your current one? Be more awesome. Put in the extra work to show future or current employers what you're capable of, and put it on yourself to do the job in a way that makes you feel you couldn't have done it better.

You want to make more friends or just be more likable in general? Be more awesome. It's not all about people's preconceptions about you. It falls on you to show people what they should really be thinking of you. Show them not only the kind of person you are. Show them the kind of person you can be, because there's always so much more in us than what's immediately visible.

I think you get the idea. No matter what part of your life needs to see improvement or even just be maintained at its current level, challenging yourself to be more awesome is the answer.

I've always been floored by the capacity for self-improvement in people. They frequently do things that were thought unheard of just to be able to prove it could be done, or to improve the situation of someone else. And now, the time of resolution has come. So, I say, why not challenge yourself at the dawn of a new decade to be more awesome. Make yourself run that extra mile when you don't think you have the energy, get one more rep on the bench press, put a little more time into that project at work, spend an extra half hour studying for that exam, and probably most importantly, reach out to that person you always thought you should have but never did.

You are a powerful person. You can change yourself, change someone else, and change the world by challenging yourself to be more awesome. If you can do it, and everyone else can do it, is there really a doubt that all of humanity can benefit in ways it hasn't seen in years? It isn't about stimulus packages, reforms or bills and laws. It's about you, me and everyone else, and us actually utilizing our ability to change life for the better.

Happy New Year's friends!