Keep On Keeping On

In every culture, New Year signifies a new start. Janus, the Roman god after whom January is named, is usually depicted with two heads – one looking back to the year departed, and one looking forward to the year ahead. Likewise for us, January is traditionally the time we reflect on the successes and failures of the past year, and resolve to start afresh and do better in the coming twelve months. Research, however, suggests that 4 out of 5 resolutions fail, many within the first few weeks. No wonder New Year’s resolutions leave so many of us feeling disheartened rather than energised. No wonder that so many of us have given up giving up, convinced that no matter how good our intentions, we’ll be sitting here in 12 months time bemoaning another year of failure. But what if, instead, we resolved to keep on keeping on?

I recently attended a FED workshop that SRA were running for our graduates in order to provide some business context and share some of my FED journey. This involved a ‘fishbowl’ session, where the graduates fired questions at me for about an hour. Youthful enthusiasm ensured they fully indulged themselves(!) which had me reflecting deeply on my development. And as I did so – perhaps because it was January and I was in ‘resolution’ mode – I realised that any positive change that I could point to took much longer than a few weeks – and in most cases several years – to develop. More importantly, I realised that the only reason I was able to point to any development at all was because I was fortunate to have people around me encouraging me, supporting me and reassuring me. Without them I wouldn’t have any stories to share.

Change takes patience, perseverance and time…but most of all it takes a great support network who will help you to keep on keeping on.

Leadership nudge: Who are you enrolling into your resolutions in order to help you keep on keeping on? Whose support team are you part of and who could you ask to be part of your support team? Who could you encourage, support and reassure to bring about positive change?

By Martin Carter

Director of Safety, Health & Environment E.ON

Learn more about Martin Carter, the author of this article.