For 2018, try a twist on your usual new year resolution: Vow to stop doing something worthwhile, but that, if you’re honest, you don’t have time for. “Most of us proceed as if getting everything done might be feasible,” says Guardian columnist Oliver Burkeman. It isn’t; the wiser plan is to get more strategic about what you abandon. (One technique: list your 10 most important roles in life, rank them, then resign from at least the bottom two.) So, quit your book group; stop struggling to make dates with that hard-to-pin-down friend; accept you’ll never be a good cook. “Not because those things are bad; because it’s the only way to do other things well,” says Burkeman.
The Ring Sizer Solution
What to do with that customer who wants his finger sized so he can order a ring on the internet? Offer to sell him a plastic ring sizer, with the explanation that you “don’t want the responsibility of giving him the wrong size,” advises John E. Thompson, owner of Shabree Jewelers, Sheboygan, WI.
These Boots Were Made for Thinking
Some of Steve Jobs’ inner circle thought his penchant for taking long “brainstorming” walks eccentric. But neuroscience research proves Jobs was on to something, with recent studies showing that breakthrough ideas occur when the brain switches modes from its task-oriented “executive network” to a creative “default network,” or what some researchers refer to as the “genius lounge.” The two work together. The executive network sets goals and identifies a problem while the default network comes up with solutions, although it does so in a meandering, free-ranging way. And taking a walk is the best way to trigger cooperation between the two modes, say Olivia Fox Cabana and Judah Pollack in their book The Net And The Butterfly: The Art And Practice Of Breakthrough Thinking.
Shorten Your Planning Year
Consultants Brian Moran and Michael Lennington aren’t big believers in the value of a year, at least when it comes to setting goals. A year’s too big to get your head around, they argue in their book The 12-Week Year, and there’s too much unpredictability involved in planning for 10 or 11 months in the future. Besides, it’s awful for motivation: the New Year surge of enthusiasm fades rapidly, while the feeling of racing to the finish line — that extra burst psychologists call the “goal looms larger effect” — doesn’t kick in until autumn. In its place, they advocate dividing your year into quarters, and to think of each 12 weeks as a stand-alone “year” — a stretch long enough to make significant progress on a few fronts, yet short enough to stay focused.
Date Night
The set-up at Rolland’s Jewelry in Libertyville, IL, with its large waiting area and well-stocked bar lends itself to parties and the store is an active player in hosting community and business events. But the coolest event on its calendar must be its “date night” before Valentine’s Day, where customers are invited to bring a “special someone for a night of luxury and prizes.”
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