The New Year is all about new starts. Most of us, whether we admit it or not, make at least one resolution or goal of some sort. We like the idea that the new year is a blank slate. In fact, we look on the beginning of the month, the beginning of a week, even the next day as being a better day to handle things. In the words of Scarlett O’Hara, we choose to “think about it tomorrow” – “it” being whatever difficulty we are currently faced with and desperate to avoid.

I fell into that trap on December 29.  I was feeling discouraged and tired. Kind of the antithesis of “New Year” feelings; I was acting and thinking more like the worn out “Old Year”, or really, to be honest, a lame duck. My thought process: “Why bother calling clients tonight; it’s almost 6:00 p.m.? Most of them probably aren’t home or have company. I’ll start fresh on January 1. Well, not on the first because everyone will be sleeping off New Year’s Eve. And not the second or third because that’s a weekend. So first thing Monday, January 4, I’ll work my business!”

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I’ve been thinking about the difference between “planning” and “preparing” a lot lately. 

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