Restart at the new year!


The original IBM 5150! Two 5 1/4" floppy disk drives with a capacity of 160K per disk, and an 80x25 monochrome display.
For more about this quotation and to read a longer excerpt, see: https://www.dailymormonthoughts.com/2015/01/george-q-cannon-on-new-year-resolutions.html
 

When I first played with a prototype of the first IBM personal computer in 1981, I learned about an important keystroke combination. If the computer "hung" or you got in a situation you didn't understand, you just pressed Ctrl-Alt-Del (holding down those three keys simultaneously). That would force the computer in almost any situation to do a restart. The same keyboard combination still works today for Windows computers. (There is a similar command for Mac-OS, Command+Option+Esc.)
We often view the start of a new calendar year as a convenient time to "restart" aspects of our life, and so we make "resolutions" to try to correct the things we are not happy with or improve ourselves in some way we perceive to be beneficial. That kind of progress is a worthy goal; but sadly we often lack the commitment or vision to stay devoted to those resolutions, and after a few weeks, we slip back to our previous levels of performance. Clearly more is needed than the single-event "reset."
I once saw an interesting expansion of the reset concept with these phrases:
  • CONTROL yourself. (Be detemined and deliberate in your choices of what you do and don't do.)
  • ALTER your thinking. (Where needed, change attitudes or approaches to life's challenges and opportunities.)
  • DELETE negativity. (Optimism, hope, and confidence are powerful tools to achievement.)
I think perhaps one of the greatest keys to achievement or self-improvement are in the concepts shared by George Q. Cannon (see attached). The once-a-year resolutions might be helpful to establish some priorities or long-term goals, but most of the real progress comes in daily evaluation and recommitment. If we reserve some time each day to review and plan (or each week, at least), our chance of real change and growth is much greater than a single-day push for total renovation.
I #GiveThanks for the chance to continually re-evaluate and perform the needed restarts in my life!

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