The Leading Edge:
2017 Can Be Your Best Year Ever!

Resolutions. A word that we love to hate this time of year.

Have you ever promised yourself what you were “going” to do, and yet you felt frustrated and discouraged because over time, there was little change and you were definitely not getting different results?

We often decide at the beginning of a new year that we are “going” to eat healthier, “going” to get out of debt, “going” to work on ourselves to have a more significant and joyful life. I know I’ve been guilty before of letting talking take the place of doing. What I’ve discovered is that when what I say and what I actually do aren’t in alignment, it just turns into a dead end. It doesn’t really matter if, through all of that talking, you are convincing or fooling those around you. The real tragedy is, you are fooling yourself and staying stuck.

In your subconscious, you know if you have made a commitment to do something, or if you are just soothing yourself into complacency. One of my favorite John Maxwell books is Today Matters, because the title just kind of says it all.

John says, “People create success in their lives by focusing on today. It may sound trite, but today is the only time you have. It’s too late for yesterday. And you can’t depend on tomorrow. That’s why today matters.”

I’ve had many experiences where one single decision, made on one particular day, changed the entire trajectory of my life.

One of those days was when I was extremely distraught and discouraged in college, just two semesters away from graduation. I felt alone, hopeless and disillusioned. I was so unhappy that I wanted to just quit and go back home. I had even made my way to the registrar’s office to find out what paperwork I needed to submit to end my semester and drop out of school.

Before I could finalize that decision, I was already scheduled to meet with my pastor for a completely different and unrelated reason. During that short meeting, my pastor saw the discouragement on my face and started asking me how things were going. Even though it was very hard for me to “come clean” and admit how close I was to calling it quits, it all just started pouring out of me.

My pastor listened attentively and began to share with me how much I was loved and valued by so many people. He encouraged me to think about my decision in light of how far I had already gone in college and to think about how close I was to graduating with my Bachelor’s degree in education. Ultimately, I took my pastor’s advice that day and made the decision to stay in school and graduate.

That single day in my life really, really mattered.

It was because of his encouragement and my decision on that day that I became a teacher, then a principal and, many years later, a superintendent of schools with two additional graduate degrees. As a matter of fact, I completed 30 very fulfilling years in public education. What a difference a single day makes!

Now that another brand new year is here, what about you? What is one thing that you’ve been “going” to do for a long time that you have yet to take action on?

Or, maybe you’re like I was and there’s something that you are doing that’s become a huge challenge and you just feel like quitting.

I want to encourage you to take the first step in the right direction. What you do today really matters. Every choice, every decision, and every commitment matters.

Make your today matter for a grand beginning, and make 2017 your best year ever!

About Lynn
Lynn Wicker is an educational leadership expert, with 30 years of experience including teacher, principal, university educational leadership faculty, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and superintendent. She holds a doctorate in Educational Leadership and is a graduate of the Leadership Institute from Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her company, Center for Innovative Educational Solutions, provides leadership consulting, coaching and mentoring.

Lynn has been a member of the John Maxwell Team since 2013 and has served as a team leader for the John Maxwell Leadership Awards, a Success Roadmap Leader, a Peer Teaching Partner, and currently serves on the President’s Advisory Council.