New Year’s Revolutions – A Month-Long Experiment
By Jessica Peyton Roberts
I’ve never been one to make New Year’s resolutions. If something occurs to me that I could stand to improve (get outside more often, go to bed earlier, learn how to bake an edible dessert) I try to implement it immediately. If it sticks, the effort seems to fall away and I don’t have to be very resolved about it at all. If it doesn’t…I decide it isn’t worth the effort and my husband is a better baker anyway.
But it occurred to me less than a week ago that I do, in fact, have some work to do if I want to improve my life both personally and professionally in 2014.
Maybe I’m just getting old, but resolutions related to my appearance seem less pressing, as well as less rewarding. After recovering from an eight-year-long battle with anorexia, I know firsthand that being my thinnest never has and never will equate my happiest, most productive, or most loving self.
Rather, I feel my best when I am making consistently good decisions about what I say, how I act, and the things that I do. I’ve tried to build my health, marriage, and business on the same basic principles of (a) making informed, studied choices, and (b) trusting my gut.
Here I am, healthier and happier.
Those might seem like opposing values – to seek out knowledge, advice, and the experiences of others while acting on instinct – but if I’ve learned anything in my late 20s, it’s that instinct is informed by experience. The more I learn, the better I am at trusting myself to make good decisions.
In other words, I am finally recognizing the value of Wisdom, and want to make a conscious effort to more fully cultivate it within myself.
Confucious supposedly observed, “By three methods we may learn wisdom: First, by reflection, which is noblest; Second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is the bitterest.”
Despite the implied hierarchy of methods, I see value in all three. Sometimes when I’m walking the dog and my mind is quiet, I am better able to come back to my office and resolve a work issue that has been nagging me for hours. Other times, I look to the example of my husband, who has repeatedly modeled the wisdom of knowing when to speak up, and when to pipe down. I’m forever neglecting the latter. And finally, it was truly a bitter experience when I learned you do not pet George’s belly, because he will bite you. Hard.
He’s an angel until he wakes up.
So this January, I do not want to make a resolution. I want a revolution, a complete turn in my approach to decision-making, with the ultimate goal for me to be able to trust that when I act on my gut instinct, my natural impulse is a wise one.
Here is my experiment:
I want to develop increased wisdom by internalizing the four Cardinal Virtues that wisdom is said to be comprised of: Prudence, Justice, Temperance, and Fortitude. These virtues were first discussed by ancient scholars Plato and Aristotle, before being incorporated into the teachings of famous theologians like Thomas Aquinas.
For the month of January I will dedicate one week each to learning about and practicing a specific virtue. I will focus my efforts on a defined purpose or goal, outlined here:
Week One: Prudence
The ability to take all sides into account before making decisions; open-mindedness
I will try 3 new-to-me experiences that I previously dismissed as not for me.
Week Two: Justice
Finding the balance between selfishness and selflessness
I will do 3 nice things for others and 3 nice things for myself, all of which have to be out of my normal habits and meant to make people (including myself) feel cared for
Week Three: Temperance
Practicing self-control and abstention
Here I will attempt to curb my Worst-Case Scenario-ing, as I call it, which has been my coping mechanism but actually is just a source of negativity in my life I could do without
Week Four: Fortitude
Enduring, confronting fear and uncertainty
At the end of January I’m flying back to my parents’ home for one week to help care for my mother as she does radiation therapy for thyroid cancer. Understandably, this will require me to be the brave person I’m used to my mother being for me.
I hope you enjoy my weekly recaps. I’m already all set to start the first experiment tonight – the results of which I’ll reveal in a week. Let’s just say, when I told my husband what it was, his face lit up with impish glee. I’ll be pushing myself, people.
Read more from Jessica on her blog Aim High Writing
[highlight1]ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
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[/one_half] [one_half_last] Jessica Peyton Roberts is the Director of Aim High Writing, serving as an Applications Coach and Consultant to high-performing students and nonprofit organizations in developing the most competitive school, scholarship, and grant applications. Peyton Roberts posts free advice and resources for aspiring college and graduate students on her blog, Aim High. She enjoys powerlifting, cats, and spending time with her husband.[/one_half_last]
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