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Change and the New Years' Resolutions - Keep It Short
The New Year celebration is a recurring ritual with a social character. Many other rituals -- like the birth (day) of a child or a marriage --- have a more private character. For the celebration of a change there exists the transition ritual. Well-known are the student Rags. Transitions rituals serve to overcome or to guide a change. The importance of a change ritual is that it attracts attentions to the change and this increases the commitment of the stakeholders. The initiation (ritual) of a new project could be seen as an example. The ritual facilitates the change and serves as an extra influencing vehicle for the manager. A ritual not only emphasizes the importance of an activity but takes also care of the team spirit of those involved. In fact these transition rituals have a productive side. The New Years Resolutions could be seen as the change package that is ritualized during the New Years? celebration. New Years resolutions are often part of the New Year transition. Of course it is true that a real change is not limited nor stimulated by a calendar, yet each New Year offers the opportunity to evaluate. On a personal level you may look into the success of the previous period and equally important it is to know where you could have improved your performance. The New Year event is perhaps one of the most common global rituals, although the exact date of the event in other countries may be different than the first of January. It is a period where people close a chapter of their life; to draw up a balance sheet. Out of this balance you may distillate your new years' resolutions; continue with what have seemed to work well and change what didn't contribute to your success. Sometimes these are difficult issues, yet very important. ?To quit smoking? could be one, ?Trying to be more optimistic and positive about life? could be another resolution... But whatever the resolutions are... try to limit the number of them. You should manage your new years resolutions as you manage your time; too many priorities will not leave enough attention to any of these priorities. It is important to be selective. "Keep it short," when you focus on your resolutions. At least if you are serious about the change you want to pursue. A Jack of all trades, master of none. © 2007 Hans Bool
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