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Senior Correspondent

I love a new year, a fresh start, another chance to become a better me. Got to love continuous improvement. Several of my most life changing resolutions have occurred at the beginning of a new year. And then there have been years when my best intentions and resolve have resulted in frustration and disappointment.

It turns out that every new year, 87% of us make resolutions and create new goals. By the end of January, 50% of the resolutions have gone by the wayside. And, most resolutions are long forgotten by the middle of the year. I ran across this statistic in One Word that will change your life. Authors Dan Britton, Jimmy Page, and Jon Gordon, suggest that we are programmed to create "to do" goals, rather than "to be" goals. And since most of us already have overwhelming "to do" lists, stacking more items on top of our over-achiever to do lists is generally a prescription for failure. 

One of my all-time favorite movies is City Slickers. Who doesn't like Billy Crystal, right? So, Billy Crystal plays Mitch, a successful businessman in mid-life crisis. He and a couple of his city slicker buddies go on a cattle drive chaperoned by Curly, a tough old cow hand, played by Jack Palance. Curly reluctantly takes the boys under his wing.  He takes a special liking to Mitch. Curly likes Mitch so much that he decides to share the secret to life with him. Since Mitch's life is in flux, he is eager to learn from the old cowboy.  Curly mentors Mitch to just find one thing, your one thing, and stick to your one thing. Of course, Mitch wants to know what that one thing is. And, Curly tells Mitch that's for him to figure out.  What Curly could not offer Mitch was a process for discovering his one thing.

One Word offers an alternative to resolution setting. And, it's simply this. Discover a single word theme for your year. Readers are led through a 3 step process to discover their One Word. Our special word, when lived for an entire year, can positively impact six dimensions of our life: Spiritual, Physical, Emotional, Relational, Mental, and Financial. 

The One Word process promises narrow focus and broad impact. I think I will take old Curly's advise this year, and discover My One Thing.

Your Coaching Challenge, Should You Choose to Accept It: 

As you prepare for Your Best Year Yet, can you identify a single area of focus that would give you, your business, and/or your team broad impact?   Perhaps this is the year to find and focus on Your One Thing.    

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