The Ultimate New Year's Resolution

by Clarence E. Stowers | Dec 30, 2008 | Empowerment, Other Stuff, Vision

The tradition of the New Year's Resolutions goes all the way back to
153 B.C. Janus, a mythical king of early Rome was placed at the head of
the calendar. With two faces, Janus could look back on past
events and forward to the future. 

Janus became the ancient symbol for
resolutions and many Romans looked for forgiveness from their enemies
and also exchanged gifts before the beginning of each year.  January 1 became the beginning of
the New Year in 46 B.C., when Julius Caesar developed a calendar that
would more accurately reflect the seasons than previous calendars had.

What if I suggested that you make ONLY ONE Resolution for the upcoming year and that it will CHANGE YOUR LIFE FOR THE BETTER?  Interested? 

The idea is to list all the activities you are intentionally going to stop doing for the sake of greater productivity. 
Here’s why this is important.  As people succeed at work, they attract more and more assignments.  It’s like they become a task magnet.

The problem is that people are a
finite resource. I don’t care how good you are, you only have so much
energy and so much time. It’s true for me. It’s true for you.
The
only way for these super-productive people to continue to grow
professionally without going crazy is periodically to decide what they
are not going to do.

Here’s how:

1. Find a quiet place where you can think.
2. Look at your previous month’s calendar activities. Write down anything you’re not sure really fits your current job description.
3. Look at your upcoming appointments for the next month. Again, write
   down things that are questionable in terms of your current job
   description.
4. Go through your to-do list(s) and do the same thing. Write down the questionable activities.
5. You should now have a list of “not to-do candidates.” Good work! You’re almost done.
6. Now go through the list and put an asterisk beside each item that
   is significant enough that you want to add it to your official “Not
   To-Do List.”

Let's share a few of our "not-to-do-list" items to help stimulate the thinking of others!

Here's My Not-To-Do-List (as of today)

1. Spend time with people who complain, gossip, and are critical of others
2. Book my own travel
3. Travel by car to other cities unless they are less than one hour a way
4. Read unfiltered e-mail
5. Attend annual convention meetings unless there’s a compelling reason for me to be there
6. Attend conferences for more than three days
7. Engage in anything that hinders my ability to give the best to the greatest church in the world – Mars Hill Baptist Church of Chicago