Musings from the CU Suite

Written by Anthony Demangone

Happy New Year, everyone.  May your 2014 be filled with love, good health and happiness.

Now, what about those resolutions?

There are some that don't agree with resolutions.  Not me.  I love them.  And here's why.

1. Self-reflection. An important part of any resolution is self-reflection. Think about your life. Where it is. Where you want it to go.  What tweaks can you make to improve things? Understanding that you can do better is a nice guard against hubris. Self-reflection is a key component in strategic planning, corporate goal-setting and annual reviews. And that's why I love New Year Resolutions.
2. Control. It could be easy to think that we're nothing more than a pawn on a chessboard. So many variables exist in life, it can be easy to sense a lack of control. But nothing could be further from the truth. You are in control of much of your life, and making a resolution is a way of highlighting that control. 
3. Continuous change, continuous improvement. Few things stay the same in life. So, after taking the time to reflect, resolutions point us down the path of improving things and adapting to changes. 
   
4. We fail.  Some ridicule resolutions by pointing out how many people fail at keeping them. I take the other side of that coin. A good resolution should push us.  And sometimes, we'll fail to achieve the goal. So be it. Big deal. Get up, dust off, see where you failed, and try, try again. This article provides some great help on making new habits stick. (Buffer) Here's another.  (Edutopia.)

I love resolutions. I love tweaking things. And if the New Year gives me another chance to examine things and draw up battle plans, all the better.

Have a great weekend, everyone.  And a great 2014!

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Do you like spending more money than you have to? I didn't think so. With that in mind, if you know you're coming to a NAFCU conference in 2014, please use the code HOLIDAY by January 10 when you register. You'll save $100.