Getting ready for 2013

December Newsletter

I don’t easily make spontaneous decisions. I’m an analyzer – someone who enjoys the process as much or more than the end result.  For example, after eight years of wearing my last watch, it was scratched and needed replacing. I started noticing other people’s watches and would regularly ask strangers in airport lines where they got theirs. My wife finally took me to buy a watch on our anniversary. No decision was made. It was a full year later that I finally clicked the ‘Add to Shopping Cart’ button on Amazon.

Lately, I’ve been reflecting about the benefits of ‘extended analysis’ vs. ‘instinctive decisions’.  It’s become clear to me that the most scarce and valuable resource that I have is my time. So while I may have managed to get an elegant watch for a reasonable price, too much time and energy went into that process. With two small children, a caring wife, the UPEACE Center, and my natural curiosity in the world, I can think of many other ways I could have been spent all that time! And, as you may imagine, the ‘watch decision’ was just one of many.

In 2013, I am going to trust my instincts more, try not to second-guess myself, and get into the habit of making quicker decisions. Trying it out this December already makes me feel lighter, faster, and happier. Saving valuable energy on the small things allows me to re-channel that into the big things – like PERMA (Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Achievement) the framework from our ‘Designing Your Life’ online course. And as the following TED talk suggests, all I need to do is to practice this for 30 days for it to become a habit. What’s a new habit that you’d like to have in 2013?