“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put the words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Years Day.” Edith Lovejoy Pierce

I have to admit that I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with the holiday season. So many moments of it are fun. I love my kids excitement and joy, Christmas morning has never been so much fun, the decorations are beautiful, and I do love the opportunities to get together with those I love and enjoy the joys of the holiday season. That being said, the holidays are a ton of work and stress. Every year I spend most of my time cleaning, cooking, packing/traveling, running around, preparing, etc. and far less time relaxing and enjoying. I am therefore always grateful when they are done and I can breathe again.

For many years now, January 1 has been my favorite day of the year. I am usually up early, feeling good, and enjoying the peace that seems to fall over the land while everyone else is sleeping off their holiday parties. The day tends to be quiet, reflective, and focused on setting intentions for myself as I anticipate the opportunities that come with a new beginning.

We have established this tradition of New Years Resolutions, which rarely, if ever, work. Statistics show that up to 92% of resolutions fail, and most within the first month. That is, by the end of January, most people have given up on their resolutions. Why, you ask? I believe for many reasons, mostly related to how we approach making changes in our lives. This will be a topic for us here at Roots First in the coming year, but suffice to say that setting big New Years Resolutions may not be the best way to go about making changes in your personal development and/or in your life.

I prefer to reflect on the first day of each new year not as an obligation to set huge goals and make big changes but rather as an opportunity. This opportunity comes with a new book to write. It has blank pages, and the chance to develop an evolving story as we go through each chapter of this new opportunity. We don’t fill the pages on day one with goals and things to achieve. Rather, the pages remain blank and we fill them as we go through the year—slowly, evolving and changing our story as we develop it.

As we anticipate this transition from the holiday season into the new opportunity for growth, let’s do it from a different perspective this year. Let’s let go of New Years Resolutions and huge goals that almost never seem to work, and leave us feeling like failures.

Let’s instead imagine a blank book of opportunity, one in which we haven’t yet written and maybe don’t even know yet what we will write. Let’s appreciate the gift of this, the gift of the blank pages and the endless opportunity that comes with them.

And perhaps, let’s fill in the pages of our books together, over time. Let’s do something different this year. Join us at Roots First to write your new book!