A New Year’s Eve Resolution

Another year has come and gone.  Tomorrow night many of us will toast our glasses, dance the night away, and make awful New Year’s resolutions that we will probably never keep.  According to USA.gov the most popular resolutions year after year are to:

1. Drink Less Alcohol
2. Quit Smoking
3. Lose Weight
4. Get a Better Job
5. Manage Debt

Whether we stick to them or not, each of these resolutions is a noble goal for improving health and happiness in our personal lives.  To add to this, I propose an alternate set of resolutions to improve your health and happiness in your everyday work life.

1. Stop following the office gossip. This only creates a stronger in-group, out-group dichotomy that makes you feel like you’re back in high school.  And, really, who wants to be back in high school???
2. Learn something new every day. Is there something new you can learn about your boss, your colleagues, your organization, or a job you work closely with?  Knowledge really is power, and those around you will appreciate your attempt to learn and grow.
3. Re-evaluate your work/life balance. When you come home from work at night, do your friends and family have to struggle to remember your name?  See if there are meetings that can be shortened or work that can be done at home.  Technology has made it so easy to pick up and work almost anywhere.  Have a discussion with your boss to see where compromises can be made.

The purpose of a resolution is to make this next year better than the last.  What others can you think of?  Share them with us here.  We’d love to know!  Personally, I think my resolution is to not make any resolutions this year, but I’ll probably end up breaking that one too!