It’s partly neuroticism, partly almost-under-control OCD that causes me to be a list-keeper. I’m sure, you’ve noticed it here, sweet readers (welcome, and Happy 2016, by the way!), with monthly goals spelled out, with to-do lists a mile long that fall out of my notebooks and purses. I resolve, every year, and almost every year there are two big hopes: lose a little weight (a constant if you happen to be a woman), and to be happy. Generic, I know, but even last year, I had said I wouldn’t make any body-changing wishes- though of course, I did- and wished for my feeling of Thanksgiving to remain through 2015. It was silly, looking back, to hope that an elate happiness would carry me through twelve months. Of course it’s silly! There is life to deal with, forces beyond our control: dogs get sick and pass, family members become ill, iller. Sometimes, we are met with negative life forces (clients? Ex-friends? Pneumonia?) that seem to suck all of the life and hope out of us. You cannot- cannot!- wish to be happy all of the time. It just. Doesn’t. Happen.
Yet, it doesn’t stop us from hoping, and wishing, and setting goals… Usually one big, Champange-induced Resolution each January.
I’m currently sitting at my dining room table, Wild Child radio twanging away on Pandora, and looking at the 4 pages of STUFF I hope to achieve this year. It ranges from little, easy-to-accomplish-over-a-weekend tasks to huge, I-must-be-crazy-for-thinking-this-is-even-possible life shifts. There are things that are prety Resolution-y, like making sure I knock the 100 or so new recipes I want to try off the list, and finally getting around to cleaning out and organizing the basement. ** side note: we gutted our kitchen on April 22, 2014. The old cabinets are still laying in the basement, though I’m proud to say the appliances have all been rehomed **
All of this is organized on lists: Detail work to finish in house. New furniture to buy. Work goals. Money goals. Personal growth. Daily work-from-home scheudule, including lunch breaks, scheduled yoga on Fridays, and time carved out for what seems minute, like brainstorming or email answering.
4 pages. It’s a 4-pages long to-do list for the next year, and you want to know something? It has focused me. I work better when the Chip Theory comes into play. (The Chip Theory, by the way, was the Aha! moment of my friend Matt, during our freshman year of college. When 20 or so of us landed in a focus group and began lamenting about the complete pressure of reading assignments, rush, homework, study time, sporting events, and various college woes, he explained that we had to look at things individually, and break big assignments into smaller parts, much like a family sized bag of Doritos. If we were to lay out every Dorito into one, huge, Nacho-cheese flavored crisp, we would doubt our ability to eat the whole thing at once. Yet, when that huge chip is broken down into a bag full of bite-sized wonder, we easily eat the entire bag during that night’s episode of CSI. It’s brilliant, and I’m not sure he knew how it would be stuck with me these 15 years later. If you’re reading this, Matt Cox, thank you.) If I have no scheudule, no real variety of assignments, I fall apart. It was the same feeling of panic I felt after my grandpa died- I had revolved around his schedule for so long, tending the house while my parents worked, prepping his meals, keeping up with a plethora of doctor’s appointments, and his bi-weekly haircuts. When he passed, I had no daily pattern, no client book, no real reason to wake up. But, once I started scheduling my days intentionally- weekly coffee with a friend, Monday morning neighborhood walks, big, elaborate dinners on Saturday nights, I began to snap into my happily regimented self. My daily grind wasn’t just to survive- I had to break that single assignment of survival up into Doritos of friendly outings, grocery runs, time to client prospect, to go to the gym. I had to-do lists EVERYWHERE. That sense of constant accomplishment kept me focused, gratified, happy.
There are 44 New Year’s Resolutions on my list. 44 Doritos, almost a whole bag full. My book of business for 2016 is growing already, and I know that when new Buyers are introduced, and I earn more listings, that specific to-do list is going to continue to expand. More chips. More hunger. More resolve.
I’m not sure why I never thought of this before, adding the Chip Theory into every day and every page of to-do’s. I won’t just go to the grocery store, I will go to the grocery store for the ingredients for baked salmon with lentils. On my shopping list will be salmon, chicken stock, carrots, celery, green lentils, parsley, and so forth. Each assignment will be broken down into the individuality of its sub-tasks, much like how each home sale through the year is accomplished by winning that specific client, which is gained by making so many phone calls, writing so many notes. So many chips.
I realize this has spun into a Nacho-flavored tangent.
2016. I resolved. The goal remains: be happy. One giant Dorito. One bite at a time.
