The Copy below was sent to me from a dear friend of mine. It is attributed to Source: Can you believe it’s that time again already? Ten of the Best New Year Resolutions you can make, without letting yourself down. By Mike Lipkin.

Please have a fun and safe New Year!
mj

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The Best New Year’s Resolutions You Can Make Resolve to stay brutally optimistic. See the opportunity in every difficulty and anticipate the most favorable outcome out of every situation. Whatever you look for, that’s what you’ll find. We can get better or we can get bitter; it all depends on the lessons we draw from each experience. Optimism is like electricity — very little happens without it. Know this truth: you have all the resources you’ll ever need to handle all the challenges you’ll ever have. In true emergencies the true you will emerge. (see Mike’s blog “Surviving Our Storms” for his perspective on this)

Resolve to pump-up your personal vitality. In the game of life, it’s not about who’s right, it’s about who’s left. Over 60 percent of us are more than 36 years old. The real currency of the new century is not cash. It’s vitality. It’s the ability to keep going every day of every week of every month of the year with vigor and verve. All you are to the people around you is a source of energy, and you cannot give what you don’t have. Ninety percent of all adults do no physical exercise at all. More than half of us are overweight. A third of us still smoke. So, this year, resolve to enhance your physical, emotional and mental vitality. Take just a small step. First you’ll amaze yourself, and then you’ll amaze everybody else.

Resolve to go on a mental diet. Sticks and stones can break your bones, but words can scar you for life. It is humans, not elephants, who never forget. So resolve to use the language of conciliation, not the language of confrontation. Avoid the temptation to vent your negativity on others. Instead, use words that express your joie de vivre and connection with others.

Resolve to take control of your destiny. Don’t be so busy trying to make a living that you forget to make a life. Decide who you want to be and what you want to achieve and then stride boldly toward your vision. The most precious human commodity today is confidence.

Resolve to increase your creativity by letting go of the familiar. Nothing is as far away as yesterday. Try to see the world through fresh eyes every day. As Salman Rushdie writes, every year is the Stone Age to the year that follows it. Listen to your intuition and follow your instincts, they’ll tell you what to do before your head has had a chance to figure it out. You are a Picasso or Einstein at something. Discover what it is and then develop it to the maximum.

Resolve to be you because others are already taken. You and I are at our best when we’re being authentic. We’re at our best when we’re being positively spontaneous, because that’s when all our energy is being invested in the task at hand or with the person in front of us. In a hyper-competitive world, we cannot afford to second-guess ourselves. Success in the new century is all about speed. So act now, because if not now, when?  

Today I was in the diner having breakfast with my little guy - it’s our one little sacred ritual that allows us to have some Dad and Sammy time each week.  It is so important because it is very hard to find 1:1 time with him during the rest of the week.  So after I take him to his swimming class, we have pancakes, joke around and have a good time.

Today, he was eating his usual chocolate chip pancakes with a whipped cream smiley face (not the same without it) and when I let him use the butter knife to try to cut the pancakes, the whipped cream gets all over his sleeves.  OK.  Then, the syrup gets all over his hands because it is all over the fork which means it ends up on his forehead, nose and most other places on or near his face.

With the diner packed, the waitress is struggling to keep up and we are left napkin-less for a while. RIght as I was about to get up to go grab some, this woman in the table across from us comes over and gives us a bunch of napkins that were on her table with a nice comment and a smile.

A few minutes later, a woman is seated in the table next to us and didn’t notice that her scarf had fallen so I gently tap her arm and hand her the scarf. 

OK, so not the most exciting breakfast in the world but nevertheless, it was beautiful.  These random acts of kindness amongst strangers do so much to warm up the atmosphere and set the tone for a more gentle day.  We’ll never know the ripple effects of such a small gesture, just like the woman who handed us the napkins could never have realized that her action is now known in many countries around the world through this writing.

Imagine if everyone was committed to doing one small act of kindness per day.  Not a lot to ask for - definitely within reach.  Just one.  What would it add up to?  How much goodwill and ease would be generated around the world?

Global warming would have a whole different meaning…