New Year’s Evolution

Posted by Sant Qiu in : News, Updates & General on January 1, 2008 , trackback

The new year is here. A new fresh start. A new opportunity to set new goals… or achieve the old ones Typically now is the time when everyone who believes in making new year resolutions is making theirs.

Personally I’m a big believer in setting new goals each year. Though I prefer to think of it as new year’s evolution instead of resolution. ‘Resolution’ has the element of re-solving something that didn’t get solved in the past. While evolution means that you’re changing and improving.

It’s similar to the Japanese word ‘Kaizen’, which has become a huge management buzzword and philosophy behind popular concepts like Total Quality Management. It means continuous incremental improvements. (Side note: While the Kaizen philosophy is attributed to the Japanese due to their quality revolution while under the guidance of Edward Deming, I can’t help but find the resemblance of the words Kaizen to the Chinese word ‘Gai Zheng’. Their literal meaning: ‘Gai’ to change; ‘Zheng’ be right. After all, the Chinese had a strong influence on Japanese language when they started. Just thought it’s interesting.)

While I was thinking about the new evolution I’m planning for myself this 2008, I thought of the excerpt of an interview I watched of David Brandon, Chairman & CEO of Domino’s Pizza talking about his business philosophies.

He said, “If you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse.” There is no such thing as staying the same. And I remembered a similar philosophy of life taught by a mentor, “Either you are growing, or you’re dying. There is no in-between.”

There is something liberating about thinking and seeing things in such stark black or white. There is no gray areas. No ifs. No buts. You either do. Or you don’t. You’re either progressing towards your goals, or regressing.

As you’re deciding on your new evolutions this year, have that clear black or white mentality. Either you want to do it and go all out to achieve it, or when you catch yourself thinking “I’d like to achieve that if…” scrap that goal and let it go. You don’t want it enough to make it happen yet.

And if that’s the case, be comfortable about it and let it go. Focus on the few evolution goals that you’re really passionate and committed to. It’s always better to complete the few important things that matter the most, rather than neglect everything by trying to do everything at the same time.

One of my evolution goals in 2008: While I’ve been wanting to start my online business, I’ve been caught up too much with my offline consulting work. Now, the start of the new year is a great time for me to finally start. I’ve put this as a priority and I’ll go all out. This is my ‘Year One’.

What is possible to achieve in one year online, starting from scratch? What do you think? Let me know your evolution goals too. Maybe I can help.