It’s New Year’s Day and I’ve just finished my early morning walk to celebrate the start of another year. A long walk on New Year’s morning has become a tradition that challenges and inspires me. This morning, I covered nearly 13 miles—much of it in the rain—from Falmouth, MA to nearby Woods Hole and back. I must admit to taking a delightful break at Pie in the Sky bakery in Woods Hole to savor a cup of freshly-brewed coffee and a warm pecan roll. What a great way to start 2025!
Change is Hard
I don’t use headphones; I want to be in tune with God and Nature during my walks. Thus, I had hours to pray, contemplate, and reflect on the coming year. I’m not a fan of New Year’s resolutions, and don’t make them anymore. In the past, I usually failed to keep aspirational resolutions which in turn made me feel like a failure. Who needs that! Change is hard, and I’ve come to accept it’s not worth it for me to resolve to make promises to myself that I can’t keep. Yet I yearn to improve myself and to live a better life, for myself and others, each day of the year.
As the miles peacefully passed like clouds floating gently by in the sky, I thought back to a car ride I’d taken with my mother a few weeks back. Mom’s nearly 87 and has lived in Falmouth for most of her adult life. She enjoys getting out for a ride around the old haunts. I often take a circular route along the ocean on Surf Drive to Woods Hole, then back around through North Falmouth to home. It’s a beautiful ride, no matter the season.
A Fresh Perspective
On that particular ride, we started out in the opposite direction purely by chance due to an errand I had to run. As we turned onto Sippewissett Road, I was taken aback by how different everything looked going in that direction. I had to do a double-check on my map program to be sure I was going to right way. Yup, it was the same route I’d taken many times, but the perspective was totally different. Houses emerged where we hadn’t previously noticed them. Views of the ocean and woodlands seemed new.
Thus energized, my mother and I then noticed how the trees, bereft of their showy fall foliage, stood tall and stately as if proud to display their nakedness. Rather than the stark, bleak scene one might expect in winter we saw it differently, observing a new kind of beauty. Upright, white birches with their papery bark blended harmoniously with the graceful, spreading crowns of darker, smoother oaks and maples. Like a black and white photograph, the landscape with bare trees presented with enhanced detail and deeper dimension than the color version. What a gift!
Starting Anew
Doing the same drive in the opposite direction made me wonder how much richer my life could be if I applied the principle, “do the same thing differently” to other aspects of my work and life. Change isn’t always the answer. Doing the same thing differently is easier to execute. It just takes a little imagination. As we enter a new year, I encourage everyone to give it a try.
Look in the mirror: What are some ways you can become a better leader and help your people and business prosper by merely doing the same things differently?
Please join me again next week for more on Leading with Character.
If you enjoyed this post, please visit my website where you can buy my book, Breaking Ice & Breaking Glass: Leading in Uncharted Waters, and sign up for my mailing list: https://sandrastosz.com/book/breaking-ice-and-breaking-glass/
