Jong be nimble, Jong be quick
Last year I construed New Year's resolutions as choices. Now I treat them as guiding principles, which are perhaps less amenable to empirical evaluation but which may be of greater value to me during the coming year.Accept failure as a cost of learningFor the most part, I have lived the life of a student, in which learning entails preparation, study, and analysis. In the real world and even in academic research, important pieces of knowledge only yield themselves to those who take action. Too often I limit myself only to efforts assured of success. Even when I do confront my fear of failure, I prepare in excess.Shift gears more readilyI tend to be too single-minded. When conditions are not favorable for what I'm trying to do, I spend time and energy changing the conditions instead of potentially doing something else. I require too much time and energy just to switch contexts to a new task. Perhaps I would benefit immensely from embracing the multitasking philosophy I once abhorred.I thought this list would be longer, but each new item I consider seems to reduce to one of these two principles. The impetus behind both is a desire for greater figurative agility. Growing up I didn't challenge myself enough: the brute strength of intelligence always sufficed. Now I see in myself the corporate behemoth that can accomplish great things in a familiar market given plentiful resources. I just want to preserve that capacity while adding the ability to accomplish good things even in unfamiliar terrain or under pressure.