I have always been mixed on the New Year. Some years I am all about resetting and getting a fresh look at things and some years I am not.
Well this year I am planning on a major overall on the way I handle many things. In other words, I am getting my shit together. Really.
I have had other years like this and they have been met with varying degrees of success but I have been sharpening a number of tools in order to get this overhaul going. But the first truism I plan to tackle is the truth.
Of the many tools we have at our disposal there is but one that will set us free.
I always have Thoreau in my head when I think of the word truth:
“No face which we can give to a matter will stead us so well as the truth.”
-from Walden
And today the deal was sealed for me by Seth Godin. I am always surprised at how many people I know who have not read more of his work but right now on iTunes there is an incredible podcast called the Seth Godin Startup School and it is very much worth your time if you are trying to start anything. His mind is focused and his ideas are clearly expressed. Here is the quote that got me today near the end of episode 14:
“The reason we use 100 words to answer a 10 word question is because the other 90 words are designed to distract the person who asked us the question so that we never have to say the 10 words that are true…because we are afraid that if we say the 10 words that are true the person might actually hear what we say and say “you should be ashamed of yourself”, “You should be ashamed that you didn’t know this or that you spoke up about this.”
And that brings me back to the New Year. The first order of business is to give the 10 word answer. To take a moment and focus my ideas and be unafraid to say the 10 words that are true. To know that I dont know everything. To know that I will get it wrong but will make it right. To speak up. To lose the fear of shame and the fear of the unknown. To walk into the uncertain future with a compass. The truth. And that is how I will find my way.