I had to check the calendar twice because I couldn’t believe it’s already the fourth Monday of the new year.

Christmas, New Year, a 10-day trip to Aotearoa (“Land of the Long White Cloud”), and here we are.

The start of a year carries a lot of anxiety.

“Make 20xx Your Best Year Yet!” etc etc.

Lifestyle magazines and the wellbeing section of newspapers offer you sound-good ways to boost your health, read the right books, change your career, start a business, have less stress, and so on.

While they are good advice, they require a significant effort on your part. They require you to Change the way you’ve been living.

And Change can be hard work.

The logical part of us knows we need to make the change, but the emotional part of us – which is the boss, by the way –  is highly resistant to any kind of change, because change usually equates to hard work, having to think, having to make choices, and having to sacrifice comfort and stability.

So maybe we can make the new year less intimidating for ourselves and more manageable, by focussing on something that’s already in us and part of who we are, and then doing it really well.

I’m talking about Commitment. It’s a big thing for me personally because I’ve come to realize that many of my problems are related to a lack of commitment and follow-through. I start off with a positive intention or a good idea or a new project, but then the enthusiasm fizzles out as I start to realize how much more is required of me than I expected. Then I look for excuses to exit. I walk away and leave the project unfinished, the idea not fully explored or expressed, the intention still an intention.

So this year I’m focussing instead on what it means to be a person who demonstrates Commitment.

To finish what I start.

To write, think, speak, and present with excellence, courage, truth, wisdom and (hopefully) humour.

To stop running from things I don’t enjoy (paperwork! regulatory compliance! numbers!) and woman up to them, because I am more capable, organized and intelligent than I am currently presenting myself to be. And because those things are part of being excellent.

This is the year of tracking down every runaway leak in my System and to recommit to what is important in my life – family, excellence, service.