Image Up Advertising & Design

Making a New Year's Resolution List? Hope that works for you… By Courtney Taylor, Image Up Advertising & Design I'm sick of New Year's Resolutions. It's as pointless as hope. I know, I know - I'm not being very festive, but stick with me for a second. When you say something like, "I hope I get a raise," you are relinquishing your control of reaching that goal. "I hope," to me, means, "I'm not really ready to put any heavy lifting into this goal so I'm just going to lift this particular desire up to the rainbows and unicorns and hope that fairies sprinkle magic dust on my head." However, there is an exception. If you don't have any control to relinquish, then go ahead and hope. Say your friend has a cold. Are you in the medical profession? Did you concoct a cure for the common cold? No? Then go ahead, hope! Tell your friend, "I hope you feel better." If your sister and brother-in-law are going on a trip, go ahead and wish them a good time. "Hope you have fun!" You're not the travel agent who booked them on a 10-day cruise in a canoe down the Amazon with their three preschool aged children. In a situation like that, they need all the good wishes they can get. But when it comes to your life — personal or professional — you can't afford to waste time with hoping. You have all the control to make changes, to improve yourself, to quit bad habits and adopt good ones. You have all the control to make concrete goals, backed by solid plans to achieve them, and move down the road toward success. Making New Year's Resolutions is an exercise in list making. It is an opportunity for you to take a deep breath, prioritize the things you want to change, write them down on a piece of paper, post on your Facebook wall, tell the checker at the grocery store — however you put it out there — and then count the days until you lose the list, forget what you posted and avoid that grocery store. The only way to be a better you, build a better business, is to get to it. It's a matter of being honest with yourself about your desire and commitment to do the heavy lifting. That doesn't start with making a list. It starts with action. Only you know what action will lead to your desired outcome. "Do or do not. There is no try." Yoda had it right. Contact Courtney Taylor, graphic designer and magazine publisher, at 909-797-3647. Decide to do better. 909-797-3647 Advertising in quality publications gets results. Call for information about the best magazines in the area today! 909-797-3647 BEAUMONT NOW | DECEMBER 2013 13

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