New Year, New Beginning - Resolution #1

I usually don't take much stock in New Year's Resolutions. However, 2012 had so much going on, so many ups and downs, left and right turns, and dead ends that it just feels right to try to make some resolutions for 2013. A new me for the new year.

I haven't quite figured them all out yet but I figured a good place to start would be to re-established some personal values. Once upon a time I tried to write down what my own values were but somewhere along this strange journey I lost that list. I'm not saying that I don't have any but it would probably be best to etch them in stone again.

A lot of self discovery books offer tips and tricks to discovering your personal values such as meditation and interviews with close friends. After 32 years though, I think I've adventured enough where good values were close at hand... or to be more precise, in my wallet.

Resolution #1

Behold two wallet cards that I've carried around since I was 19. One was given to me during a my short lived career with the Army and the other was when I was Cast Member at Disneyland. Two very different experiences with stories I may share at some later time but they each had a code that shaped how I've viewed life. Take a quick gander at the picture below:

In case you can't make out the words... or are distracted by my lovely feet, here is what is on both cards:

Army Values

Loyalty - Bear true faith and allegiance to the US Constitution, the Army, your unit, and other soldiers

Duty - Fulfill your obligations

Respect - Treat people as they should be treated 

Selfless-Serice - Put the welfare of the nation, the Army, and your subordinates before your own

Honor - Live up to all the Army values

Integrity - Do whats right, legally and morally

Personal Courage - Face fear, danger or adversity (Physical or Moral)

Disneyland Resort Code of Guest Service

Smile

Eye Contact/Body Language

Respect and Welcome

Value the magic

Initiate Guest Contact

Create Service Solutions

End with a Thank You

- The Magic Begins With Me - 

Again, on the face of what is written on both cards, you may be thinking that these two codes have nothing in common. One appears to be a serious commitment to how you should live your life as a soldier while the other focuses on guest services. 

Having gone through training on both codes and using them day in and day out, I can tell you that you really cannot be a complete person without values to guide your life and values to guide how you interact with others. If you only followed a code that was only self-focused or focused on others, you'd be doing one of two things:

a) You might be living to your code but your actions piss others off... or 

b) You could be pleasing others but at the cost to your own happiness.

Neither of these options are any I'd want to live out so for 2013, I'll pledge to work on integrating them into one Value Set/Codes for myself. 

In the coming days and weeks, I'll try to explain how each of these values or statements plays out in my life. I'd like to think that I am already living up to each of them but then I would be perfect and today's blog will be useless. 

I'm hoping that those of you who read this and know me will ask questions about this resolution. It'll help motivate me to stick to the plan and be truthful with myself. 

Anyways... this is Resolution #1. I have a few thoughts as to what some other resolutions will be but I'll save those for different blogs.

I hope y'all had a great holiday season and are ready for 2013. I can't say that I'm completely thrilled since there are some left over baggage to deal with but you can't really get anywhere unless you take the first step. 

Boom. First step done.