What kind of person are you?

Resolutions are about resolve, not wishful thinking. Depending on the data you believe, less than 50% of New Years resolutions last past sixty days. The failure rate for resolutions in general is probably similar.

People–you, me and everybody else–typically change due to hope of gain or fear of pain. Most change after sufficient pain has induced the kind of suffering that makes change a no-brainer. The best time to change is before pain and suffering occur. Preventive actions to maintain health trump remedial actions to cure problems. Saving money for a retirement or a rainy day downturn beats cutting back when it starts to rain.

Change is easy to make and difficult to maintain. I can eat well today and overindulge tomorrow. Successful change is evidenced by long-term benefits, not inconsistent and temporary behavior.

What have you resolved to change this year?

It begins with figuring out what you need to know. For someone who has traveled the world, my geography isn’t as good as I’d like, so that’s one of the things I’m studying up on this year. And while I have a degree in economics, I need to take a refresher course or two via some great websites and books.

Also focus on what you’d like to learn. I’m a car nut so always reading and learning about exotics, classics and hot rods. Actually, I like almost anything with an engine and I’m a licensed (although not current) pilot, so motorcycles and aviation are on my electives list. I also love etymology so I keep a few books about the origins of words on my book shelf.

Professionally there is so much change in the area of technology that most of us could benefit from a few courses. I’ve just started into social networking and am on a steep learning curve. I’m a private person who used to think that most social networking was for singles wanting to connect (a common perception, by the way, at least among older folks like me). I’m learning the professional benefits of smart social networking with help from my business manager and a consultant friend.

The hardest part of going back to school, however you choose to do it, is the time element. You don’t have time; you’ll need to make time. I’m a morning person so I get up early to read, pray and meditate before my day kicks into hyper drive. I also schedule time at the office for learning. For me, and I’d suggest for anyone, it is an MVP (most valuable and profitable) activity.

I hope you’ll share your tips for personal and professional education and development here.

Here’s to better learning in 2009!

Here’s some of what I learned or relearned:

Television is proof of the end of civilization as we know it. So many of the shows I watched out of sheer boredom were based on the premise that anything rude, crude or disrespectful is funny. C.S. Lewis said that the world is actually too good or too bad to describe. Television, for the most part, seems to focus on the “too bad” not just in terms of reporting; television manufactures the crass and unpleasant as an accepted entertainment form.

I’ve been an avid reader for my entire life, but I got so much uninterrupted time to read that I rediscovered the joy of reading slowly and deeply. I read the Sunday New York Times. I did more than skim the Wall Street Journal. I reviewed books I’d read in the past. I studied notes I’d made and had not looked at for years. It was enjoyable and beneficial. The missing part for many of us who read today is time to truly reflect and digest. I recovered that during my down time.

Having a good conversation is enhanced when there is nothing in particular to do after the conversation ends. Remove the rush form the conversation and you improve the richness.

Control is an illusion. We need to take responsibility for our lives, but don’t confuse that with control. You can eat right, exercise, live well and still get sick. You can save prudently, invest wisely and still get hammered by a recession. You can be the world’s best parent and still end up with rotten kids. And visa versa. Acknowledging that doesn’t make me fatalistic; it just keeps me realistic. How much of our anger is driven by a need for control that we can never have? For me, honestly, this is a problem. I want to believe that if I do the right stuff at the right time in the right combination I can make my life work. I can increase the likelihood that my life will work better on a good day, or less poorly on a bad day. But I don’t have anything approaching complete control. Lacking any faith, I’d most likely be an existentialist trying to make meaning from the meaningless events of my life. As a person of faith, I choose to believe my Creator is in control and working things out for my benefit that I may never understand in this life.

I relearned this: in the midst of bad economic times, all that ultimately matters is faith, family and friends. I like the toys and trips and experiences which are the proverbial icing on the cake. Fortunately, I could do without them as long as I have the faith, family and friends.

I wish you a prosperous and healthy New Year.

“We are more than our investments. We are more than the year-to-year or day-by-day changes in our net worth. We are what we do for charity. We are how we treat our family and friends. We are how we treat our dogs and cats. We are what we do for our community and our nation. If you had $100 million or $100,000 a year ago and now you have a lot less, you are still the same person. You are not a balance sheet, at least not one denominated in money, as was explained to me recently.

Losing and making money are not moral issues so long as you are being honest. You may have a lot less money as this year ends than you did two years ago. But you are just as good or bad a person as you were then. It is a myth that money determines who you are, and if you have over that myth by now, then 2008 will have been a very good year.”

I wish I had written that. I’m glad Ben Stein did.

Now let’s focus on the questions you as a leader could and should be asking yourself:

1. What were the biggest lessons of the past year?

2. What evidence do I have of growth in my personal and professional life?

3. What do I need to change? What are the top three things I need to: start doing, do consistently, stop doing or do differently?

4. What are the greatest threats for my future success and what can I do now to avoid or minimize them?

5. Am I clear on my purpose and values?

6. Do I regularly experience fulfillment and meaning in my life?

7. How much time do I spend thinking each day?

8. Am I taking good care of my important relationships?

9. Do I consistently do those things I’m best at and enjoy doing?

10. Do I understand and benefit from the difference between activity and accomplishment?

11. What are my four biggest personal goals for the coming year?

12. What can I do to maintain or improve my physical health?

13. Am I giving adequate attention to the spiritual dimension of my life?

14. Do I still desire to lead?

1. What are the barriers–systems, processes, etc.–that impede individual and organizational performance?

2. What are the most important results we need to create each week, month and quarter to reach our goals for the year?

3. What will be different about the year ahead that will impact how we do business?

4. What thinking (that may have worked in the past) do we need to discard?

5. What can we do to avoid management philosophy du jour?

6. Are we truly customer centric? What do they like, dislike and what are they willing to pay for? What is the customer’s biggest problem? Biggest opportunity? How does the customer define quality and value?

7. Are we using the right rewards to reward the right behaviors?

8. What training and development is most needed and will provide the biggest return on our investment of time and money?

9. Is our strategy congruent with our values?

10. Have we taught every employee how to add value to his or her work?

11. Have we cultivated openness to change? If not, how will we do that?

12. Can we change faster than our competitors, the marketplace and the needs of our customers?

13. Do we know as much as possible about our current and potential competitors?

14. What have we/can we learn from our competitors?

15. What strategic relationships need to be created, repaired or strengthened?

16. Do meeting produce measurable results?

17. How will we solicit, encourage and reward ideas from our team?

18. Are we truly listening to and hearing what our employees say?

19. What is our shared vision of the future?

20. How will we monitor and reward exceptional performance?