This first week of 2021 many of us will be making New Year resolutions to become better versions of ourselves. We will start looking at all the outwardly obvious changes we can make to become healthier, or even more successful.
The month of January is named after the Roman god, Janus who is said to look at both the past and the future. That pretty much sums up our transition from one year to the next as we look back and forward just as the clock is striking the midnight hour on that first day of January.
I personally do not believe there is any magic to the first day of the new year, other than it gives us a reference point in time. We have another 365 days to get life right. Whether that is a focus on diet, exercise, good eating or striving to be better leaders or employees to become successful, the countdown to a new year does not automatically ensure those things will happen.
I am not minimizing the excitement of the celebration of a new year by no means. I am wondering however, what our lives could be like if we could or would make resolutions to take a good long, hard look in the mirror and make changes that would make the world a better place.
This New Year is significant considering the year we are leaving behind us. As the clock moved from 11:59 to midnight to mark the New Year, I remembered a line from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr’s “I Have A Dream” speech.
“We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.”
We learned many lessons in 2020, let us not turn back now. Let us march ahead in search of a dream that all men are created equal. Let us rally in this new year to find our common ground. To find our common humanity. Let us view every action we take, whether in business, politics, criminal justice, healthcare, social justice, education and more, through the lens of equity and inclusion.
Rather than making resolutions we should focus on solutions. On solutions to what ails us. On solutions to the things that keep us divided and apart. Let us focus on the systemic changes that can lead to a healthier world, better relationships, equal pay, and human rights.
So here is my challenge to you. I want you to become a better version of yourself in 2021. How? Stop focusing on the results you want for yourself and begin to focus on the change you want to see in the world.
Together we can. We can become compassion in action. We can commit and resolve to create more just and inclusive societies. We can listen more and learn more about the world around us. We can walk this journey together. And that’s a brilliant glimpse of insight!
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