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“Never make an important decision when you’re hungry, angry, lonely, or tired,” goes some good advice, “and those four conditions spell HALT.”

Sunday evening after that Divisional loss to the Rams, Tom Brady faced questions —

Reporters seemed to ask the same question over and over, “Are you coming back?”

“I haven’t put a lot of thought into it,” Brady responded. “We’ll just take it day by day.”

The media pushed back. Surely Brady’s given it thought. It would be impossible not to, right?

“Truthfully, guys, I’m thinking about this game,” Brady reiterated. “And, I’m not thinking about anything past five minutes from now.”

This may seem like a simple case of Brady not wanting to talk about leaving the game that he loves, but it’s more:

It’s an example of the simple rule of decision-making, and it teaches a major lesson in emotional intelligence.

What is the simple rule of decision-making, and how can you put it to work to help you and your business? [https://www.inc.com/justin-bariso/tom-brady-retirement-emotional-intelligence-how-to-make-better-decisions.html]

— That article summarizes much as it answers that question by saying, “Never make a permanent decision based on a temporary emotion.”

I’d add a third and ancient pair of helpful points of guidance when facing big decisions —

In an abundance of counselors there is safety. (Proverbs 11:14)

The way of fools is right in their own eyes, but the wise listen to advice. (Proverbs 12:15)

— Somebody say “Amen” and let’s remember to apply all of this. Deal?

Shaun T (yes, that Shaun T, the exercise guy) nails it —

It’s a New Year

but it’s not a

New You.

It’s an Older You

making New Choices

to be a Better You.

— Looking back over 2022’s First-Three-Weeks-Plus-A-Couple-of-Days, what “New Choices” have you made “to be a Better You” so far?

And based on those New Choices, what New Actions are you taking?

Picking up precisely where we left off yesterday —

“Surround yourself with people who love you,

right where you are,

but inspire you to get to where you want to be.”

— Nakeia Homer

— Or, as Proverbs 11:14 says, Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety and as Philippians 3:14 says, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

You’ve heard me quote Walt Disney before: “Keep moving forward.”

Amen?

You’re moving how?

And where?

“When you have success, there’s a temptation to change how you do things to be more like the people you see at that level,” says Sara Hall. “Keep being you and doing the things that got you there.”

Once upon a time, I heard a line in like either an episode of “The Real McCoys” or a classic country song about the importance of choosing to “Dance with the one what brung ya.”

Let those two pieces of advice balance each other out for a moment.

Where do you land?

Jeff Bezos (I know, I know, but check this out anyway) said, “Where you are going to spend your time and energy is one of the most important decisions you get to make in life.”

Joshua 24:15 says, Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.

Weave those two together, and how’s your life looking?

Any changes you’d like to make?

Pick one. Take action today in that direction.

Your “time and energy” and other resources are significant, as is what you do with them.

In fact, that’s “one of the most important decisions you get to make in life.”

Choose wisely

Act accordingly.

“Some of the best days of our lives haven’t even happened yet.”

What a great concept! Keeps me leaning forward!

But then….

…I remember it’s the June 14, 1942 entry in a diary…

…Anne Frank’s diary.

And the cynic in me (definition 3: “contemptuous; mocking”), the thinking Gene Leckrone warned me has shipwrecked many people, wants to scoff at it all. “Yeah, sure, her best days were ahead of her! Look where that attitude got her!”

And then I wonder how much worse things would have been for her without that perspective on life.

And I want to sign my name by hers and affirm, “Some of the best days of our lives haven’t even happened yet.”

And maybe today is one of those days!

For sure it’s “the day the Lord has made” so I’m gonna “rejoice and be glad in it!” (Psalm 118:24)

Why not join me?

“Balanced people don’t change the world. Passionate people do.“ – – –Carey Nieuwhof, At Your Best, p. 54

Third and final piece of wonderful in this series, starting yet again with Stephanie Vozza at FastCompany.com —

Just when you got used to remote working, many employers are calling back teams to office or hybrid arrangements. This can be a big disruptor to the habits you’ve adopted, good or bad.

“So many habits were disrupted during the pandemic, but what’s interesting is that some people have introduced positive habits, such as eating more healthfully because they’re cooking more or doing morning meditations because they’re not commuting,” says Gretchen Rubin, author of The Four Tendencies: The Indispensable Personality Profiles That Reveal How to Make Your Life Better (and Other People’s Lives Better, Too)

Some habits may be worse, such as watching more television or no longer going to the gym. Rubin suggests being honest with yourself by asking, “How do I hold on to the things that are working better for me? How might those things be challenged? And how do I get back to the habits that I’ve maybe lost or got disrupted?”

“Consider what your next normal will be by reflecting over the past year and mindfully choosing what stays and what goes as you move forward,” she says.

Habits often form before you realize it, as a reaction to our surroundings. Rubin says it’s important to step back, give yourself a little space and time, and think about what you want your life to look like. “Ask yourself, ‘What’s working and what’s not working?’” she says. “Then determine how you will build toward this next normal by mindfully shaping new habits.”

— Kathie Waltman is a real life friend who advises, “Make new routines not new resolutions.”

Christ Jesus himself asks, “Suppose you want to build something. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough to complete it?” (Luke 14:18, RDSV)

So what are 3 new routines or habits you can implement today?

And what’s your first step?

As always, I’d love to hear from you about this, or anything else, any of our usual ways!

MEASURING SUCCESS BY OLD STANDARDS

Stephanie Vozza, again at Fast Company.com, points out —

Another mindset you may have adopted during the pandemic is buying into limiting beliefs that may be holding you back, says Kindra Hall, author of Choose Your Story, Change Your Life: Silence Your Inner Critic and Rewrite Your Life from the Inside Out.

“It’s those statements like, ‘Oh, I just can’t do this, or ‘What’s the point?’” she says. “It’s stories that are reeling around in the background that keep us from taking action.”

Limiting beliefs may be due to past measures of success. “I was struggling with my own idea of success, and I was telling myself, ‘I can’t achieve it. I can’t succeed,’” says Hall. “When I started catching that belief running subtly in the background, I analyzed it and realized that in 2019, I measured my success in airline miles, hotel night stays, and time zone fatigue. Suddenly that was gone, and my inner voice was saying that I can’t be successful because it’s done the math and I wasn’t flying all over the place.”

Instead, Hall suggests redefining what success looks. For her, a better measure became doing virtual keynotes from her bedroom and then going out and building Legos with her kids. “I had to work to change that programming and replace the negative stories with ones that were relevant going forward,” she says.

— In that last book of the Bible, St. John heard this: “Behold, I’m making all things new.”

Doesn’t that include you?

Apply as needed, and let’s meet back here tomorrow.

Stephanie Vozza, at Fast Company.com, says this —

With the roll out of the vaccine, a light at the end of the tunnel seemed to get closer.

Then came the delta variant and now omicron.

One habit that you may need to break is recognizing that you can’t control what’s going to happen with the pandemic, says Ethan Kross, author of Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It.

— which reminds me of this —

God, grant me the Serenity
To accept the things I cannot change…
Courage to change the things I can,
And Wisdom to know the difference.

— which is used in a variety of groups, and can be found on a lot of refrigerators and bulletin boards, has even made its way into our current United Methodist Hymnal, and is traceable back to Reinhold Niebuhr.

And which is well worth you and me holding onto this week.

Deal?