I know, New Year’s resolutions are a waste, right?  Most of them last a few weeks before they fall away like the needles of a once-fresh-cut-but-now-Sahara-dry Christmas tree.  So this year, I’m outsmarting the resolution makers with a new approach:

Reflective Analysis

Sounds good, right?  Technical, scientific, buzz-wordy….

I performed my first ever round of reflective analysis this past week, and since you’ve already read this far, maybe you’ll stick around a bit longer and let me tell you about it.  I’m hoping there’s usable information at the end, but we’ll see…

This time of year, I always enjoy looking back at the past 12 months. But this time I got organized and made lists. Two to be exact. One “Best Of”, the other “Worst Of”. Not the most complicated approach, but very practical.

For the sake of detail, here are some of the highlights from each list:

Best Of:
Wrote 22 new songs
Ran 100 miles in one month for the first time
Got hooked up with the team of writers at Wise & Shine
Several vacations with family
Good Friend’s wedding
One daughter moved back to town
Other daughter ran a marathon 
Some great musical performances and experiences
Most financially lucrative year as a musician

Worst Of:
Good friend’s cancer diagnosis
Worked too much
Lost my exercise routine, got weak
Fell into a sloppy diet, gained weight
Got tired/semi-burnt out, and then sick

It doesn’t take an analytical genius to sort through this data.  The “best of” list consists basically of time with family, self-care, and vacations.  These things enabled me to reach personal goals, feel better, be more productive and creative, etc…

The “worst of” list looks just as you might expect. Other than a friend’s illness, everything on that list is totally preventable and is a result of faulty self-care and the abandoning of practices and routines that have proven to have positive effects.

The results of this new, “cutting edge”, reflective analysis approach, shows that things went well for me when I prioritized and followed through with self-care. Conversely, the wheels came slowly but steadily off when I didn’t.

I’m sure this “self care equals goodness” thing is true for all of us, but I wonder if I’m the only one who struggled to manage the issue this year.

I’m guessing not.  

If you, like me, didn’t exactly ace the self-care component of life this year, I officially invite you to join me in vowing to do better this time around the sun.

Shit! That sounds like a plain old New Year’s Resolution after all- doesn’t it? Ah well…

FollowTodd’s personal, magazine-style blog called Five O’Clock Shadow. For Todd life as a musician, visit www.toddfulginiti.com