It seems that every year we all pledge to lose weight, exercise more, eat healthier, and quit bad habits. But, by February, most of us have gone right back to our old ways. It’s the very definition of a New Year’s resolution: something that goes in one year and out the other. Or, as I’ve heard it more harshly stated: “He who breaks a resolution is a weakling; he who makes one is a fool.” Personally, I like the positive spin of this Irish blessing: “May all your troubles last as long as your New Year’s resolutions!”
Instead of making resolutions, I’m taking a cue from the social networking site, meetup.com, and creating one very important “unresolution”. If you haven’t heard of it, meetup.com is worldwide website platform that helps groups of people with shared interests plan events and facilitate offline group meetings in local communities around the world. From hiking clubs to birdwatchers to “foodies” to marathon runners-in-training, there are groups posting meetings and connecting face-to-face (the site currently has 12 million users). Some very smart marketing person at meetup.com decided to create a series of “unresolutions” to promote the site. Their “unresolutions” include:
- Cancel Your Gym Membership (photo of a group of hikers on a mountaintop)
- Spend Less 1-on-1 Time with Your Kids (photo of a group play class)
- Stress Yourself Out (photo of a group skydiving)
- Get Bent Out of Shape (photo of a yoga class)
On December 15th, the entire Matchmaker team spent the day together in a strategic planning meeting before celebrating later that evening at our annual Christmas party. Although much of the day was spent goal-setting and planning new strategies to enhance sales, operations, and customer service in 2013, the most meaningful and memorable part of the day was a teambuilding exercise that involved throwing and catching balls. There was much laughter over balls caught, balls dropped, and the highly competitive spirit of everyone on our team!
I realized that part of the reason we were having so much fun was that we were completely unplugged. There were no computer monitors, no cell phones, and no interruptions. We have very few moments like that at work or at home in today’s digital world. We post pictures of meals, events and ‘moments’ online instead of being fully present and enjoying them. We use red lights, grocery store lines, or lulls in conversation to check our texts and emails. Have you heard about the restaurants that are actually offering discounts to patrons who check their cell phones at the hostess stand so they can focus on their meal?
While I’m the first to marvel at and appreciate the wonders of technology, we can’t pretend that it doesn’t sometimes isolate us in other ways. 1 out of 3 cell phone owners would rather text than talk; 67% of parents with children aged between 16 and 20 agree it is harder for them to know what is going on in their children’s lives because of technology- all reasons why I’ve committed to this one ‘unresolution’:
Unplug for the people who matter this weekend (and this year!),
~Bob
