A week before Dec 31st 2014, an after-dinner conversation between 'A' and me went something like this:
Me: I am making a goal sheet and a daily schedule for 2015. (me gently avoiding the trending word 'resolutions')
A: Hmmm....(half listening as he is watching some vague football match on ESPN)
Me: It's a list of things that I need to do.... and a list of things WE need to do.
A: Oh really! (turns to me, only when I mention 'we' the operative word)
Me: Yes, do you want to have a look at it? Maybe you would like to add or change something in the schedule (trying to make it look like a democratic process)
A: Hmm...not really! (goes back to watching TV)
Me: (pursuing the conversation) See nah! This is how it goes. Our day will start with waking up at 5:45 am. Then Yoga for 1 hour...blah blah. Then after work it would be reading a book in evening or learning something new on coursera...blah blah...
(I am rambling knowing fully well he is sitting somewhere in Emirates stadium watching an Arsenal match)
Me: (I continue) On weekends a walk in Aarey for 2 hours....all dinners will be at 8 pm with no carbs... (vehemently pursuing the conversation)
(Suddenly I am in luck. There is a commercial break on TV)
A: (he turns to me and says) Oh! So are you saying 'It's going to be that time of the year again...soon!'
(huh, so he was listening after all).
Me: Yes, and believe me, this time its for real..really!
(the drama queen in me surfaces)
A: Good! All the best....and count me out! (with a 'been there done that many times' air to it!)
Me: Don't be mean. You have to give another chance. And this plan makes sense only if both are in it together. If both work together like a team then one of us can pull the other up if the other is slipping. (here I was playing my last card)
A: Hmmm... nice try ma'm. (He knows me too well)
How about just sticking to what we should be doing anyway rather than making some new grand plans that fall through the crack in less than a month. (he says with an air of finality)
Me: Thank you very much for your 'enthusiastic' response. Hmph... I don't need your gyaan ok...just tell me...
(As I am about to retort with sarcasm that was thrown at me....the damn commercial break is over. 'A' is back where he belongs... in Emirates Stadium..and me with my grand plan...all by myself)
Dec 30, 2014
My plan is ready...the goal sheet print out taken (in Font size 16 and double line spacing). Loud and clear!
I have put it up on the fridge door for (my) whole world to know. That is my not so subtle way to convey that I am going ahead whether 'A' is in it or not. Also, it was my way of committing to the plan by openly announcing it. I was putting my neck online here.
'A' had passed by the fridge multiple times...and I was very sure I heard a chuckle every time he did (or maybe my brain was over-reacting). Well, at least he knew the plans, and that was clear. I was just hoping he would warm up and join me after seeing my continued dedication and commitment through the year.
So here I was, gung-ho and ready to go!
Dec 31, 2014 (morning arrives)
I am brushing my teeth in my half asleep and half awake mode, and then there is a sudden jolt of realization.
A thought suddenly breaks my sweet reverie in the early morning stillness.
I realized that every year I tended to go overboard with resolutions that unfortunately fell by the wayside a few months into the year (if not days). I also remembered the conversation of few days back between A and me. I put two and two together. Maybe he was right there, after all. Instead of changing lifestyle patterns drastically or biting more than I could chew, why not just stick to a simple regime and follow THAT perfectly well.
It could be just one or at best two new items on the list. And do them so damn consistently and so well that it became a habit and eventually part of life.
Just like brushing teeth in the morning or having a bath every day. We never forget to do that don't we, whether hell or high water. So just like that!
It didn't take me long. I looked at my list again, struck off the many new radical changes I was planning to bring in my life, all at the same time and focused only on what mattered the most. And there it was ...my revised goal sheet in front of me. SIMPLE AND DOABLE.
And this time I knew 'A' would happily join me willingly.
Mantra for 2015
"If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way." - Napolean Hill
Me: I am making a goal sheet and a daily schedule for 2015. (me gently avoiding the trending word 'resolutions')
A: Hmmm....(half listening as he is watching some vague football match on ESPN)
Me: It's a list of things that I need to do.... and a list of things WE need to do.
A: Oh really! (turns to me, only when I mention 'we' the operative word)
Me: Yes, do you want to have a look at it? Maybe you would like to add or change something in the schedule (trying to make it look like a democratic process)
A: Hmm...not really! (goes back to watching TV)
Me: (pursuing the conversation) See nah! This is how it goes. Our day will start with waking up at 5:45 am. Then Yoga for 1 hour...blah blah. Then after work it would be reading a book in evening or learning something new on coursera...blah blah...
(I am rambling knowing fully well he is sitting somewhere in Emirates stadium watching an Arsenal match)
Me: (I continue) On weekends a walk in Aarey for 2 hours....all dinners will be at 8 pm with no carbs... (vehemently pursuing the conversation)
(huh, so he was listening after all).
Me: Yes, and believe me, this time its for real..really!
(the drama queen in me surfaces)
A: Good! All the best....and count me out! (with a 'been there done that many times' air to it!)
Me: Don't be mean. You have to give another chance. And this plan makes sense only if both are in it together. If both work together like a team then one of us can pull the other up if the other is slipping. (here I was playing my last card)
A: Hmmm... nice try ma'm. (He knows me too well)
How about just sticking to what we should be doing anyway rather than making some new grand plans that fall through the crack in less than a month. (he says with an air of finality)
Me: Thank you very much for your 'enthusiastic' response. Hmph... I don't need your gyaan ok...just tell me...
(As I am about to retort with sarcasm that was thrown at me....the damn commercial break is over. 'A' is back where he belongs... in Emirates Stadium..and me with my grand plan...all by myself)
Dec 30, 2014
My plan is ready...the goal sheet print out taken (in Font size 16 and double line spacing). Loud and clear!
I have put it up on the fridge door for (my) whole world to know. That is my not so subtle way to convey that I am going ahead whether 'A' is in it or not. Also, it was my way of committing to the plan by openly announcing it. I was putting my neck online here.
'A' had passed by the fridge multiple times...and I was very sure I heard a chuckle every time he did (or maybe my brain was over-reacting). Well, at least he knew the plans, and that was clear. I was just hoping he would warm up and join me after seeing my continued dedication and commitment through the year.
So here I was, gung-ho and ready to go!
Dec 31, 2014 (morning arrives)
I am brushing my teeth in my half asleep and half awake mode, and then there is a sudden jolt of realization.
A thought suddenly breaks my sweet reverie in the early morning stillness.
I realized that every year I tended to go overboard with resolutions that unfortunately fell by the wayside a few months into the year (if not days). I also remembered the conversation of few days back between A and me. I put two and two together. Maybe he was right there, after all. Instead of changing lifestyle patterns drastically or biting more than I could chew, why not just stick to a simple regime and follow THAT perfectly well.
It could be just one or at best two new items on the list. And do them so damn consistently and so well that it became a habit and eventually part of life.
Just like brushing teeth in the morning or having a bath every day. We never forget to do that don't we, whether hell or high water. So just like that!
It didn't take me long. I looked at my list again, struck off the many new radical changes I was planning to bring in my life, all at the same time and focused only on what mattered the most. And there it was ...my revised goal sheet in front of me. SIMPLE AND DOABLE.
And this time I knew 'A' would happily join me willingly.
Mantra for 2015
"If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way." - Napolean Hill
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