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Whenever I hear that Eleanor Roosevelt quote, I'm reminded of the June 1997 column by Chicago Tribune writer Mary Schmich that was into turned into a recording in 1998 entitled "Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen". The Rossevelt quote is included among some other great advice...that is not just for graduates...but all of us...

Ladies and gentlemen of the class of '97:

Wear sunscreen.

If I could offer you only one tip for the future, sunscreen would be it. The long-term benefits of sunscreen have been proved by scientists, whereas the rest of my advice has no basis more reliable than my own meandering experience. I will dispense this advice now.

Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth. Oh, never mind. You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they've faded. But trust me, in 20 years, you'll look back at photos of yourself and recall in a way you can't grasp now how much possibility lay before you and how fabulous you really looked. You are not as fat as you imagine.

Don't worry about the future. Or worry, but know that worrying is as effective as trying to solve an algebra equation by chewing bubble gum. The real troubles in your life are apt to be things that never crossed your worried mind, the kind that blindside you at 4 pm on some idle Tuesday.

Do one thing every day that scares you.

Sing.

Don't be reckless with other people's hearts. Don't put up with people who are reckless with yours.

Floss.

Don't waste your time on jealousy. Sometimes you're ahead, sometimes you're behind. The race is long and, in the end, it's only with yourself.

Remember compliments you receive. Forget the insults. If you succeed in doing this, tell me how.

Keep your old love letters. Throw away your old bank statements.

Stretch.

Don't feel guilty if you don't know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn't know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don't.

Get plenty of calcium. Be kind to your knees. You'll miss them when they're gone.

Maybe you'll marry, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll have children, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll divorce at 40, maybe you'll dance the funky chicken on your 75th wedding anniversary.

Whatever you do, don't congratulate yourself too much, or berate yourself either. Your choices are half chance. So are everybody else's.

Enjoy your body. Use it every way you can. Don't be afraid of it or of what other people think of it. It's the greatest instrument you'll ever own.

Dance, even if you have nowhere to do it but your living room.

Read the directions, even if you don't follow them.

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.

Get to know your parents. You never know when they'll be gone for good. Be nice to your siblings. They're your best link to your past and the people most likely to stick with you in the future.

Understand that friends come and go, but with a precious few you should hold on. Work hard to bridge the gaps in geography and lifestyle, because the older you get, the more you need the people who knew you when you were young.

Live in New York City once, but leave before it makes you hard. Live in Northern California once, but leave before it makes you soft.

Travel.

Accept certain inalienable truths: Prices will rise. Politicians will philander. You, too, will get old. And when you do, you'll fantasize that when you were young, prices were reasonable, politicians were noble, and children respected their elders.

Respect your elders.

Don't expect anyone else to support you. Maybe you have a trust fund. Maybe you'll have a wealthy spouse. But you never know when either one might run out.

Don't mess too much with your hair or by the time you're 40 it will look 85.

Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth.

But trust me on the sunscreen.

Posted by Chris Houchens at December 28, 2005 2:41 PM

The main thing I would add for resolutions is to think of them as goals; not just for the new year but as building blocks for the next 5 or 10. Each year at this time, my family and I make personal, professional, spiritual, and financial goals that align with our long term plans, hopes or dreams (not sure of the word there). What amazes me is that unless something dramatic happens like 9-11, Dot-Com bubble, or some other life changing event, we make 95% of them year after year. Even if one of these events occur, the goal is only put of for a year or two; the result is inevitable. What seems impossible on Jan 1 will appear simple come Dec 31. I pulled up my goals for 2003 and I noted I wanted to get something published in the Academic or Professional world. Today, I have over 85 publications; not bad for someone that scored less than 250 on the SAT in English. :-}

Posted by RTodd at December 28, 2005 2:42 PM

This is a good add to what I'm doing right now! Thanks, Tom, for helping raise the bar on the essence of good goals for 2006.

mark

Posted by Mark Howell at December 28, 2005 6:00 PM

Tom,

One resolution you need to make is getting "In Search of Excellence" on CD and why not as MP3 on Audible.com. I managed to get a cassette copy through my university inter-library loan and was blown away at the insight and research that rings as true and helpful today as it did in 1982.

Posted by Steve at December 29, 2005 4:33 AM

Your best resolution for 2006 Tom will be to look after your health - carry on walking every day and give us all more of your priceless insights. On a personal front Annie and I both aim to run our first ever marathon in 2006. Ambitious maybe but who knows - if we aim low we always hit the target so we are aiming high.

Posted by Trevor Gay at December 29, 2005 6:25 AM

.. for the most part, for most people, for most of the time - resolutions are bunkum!

they act as 'quick-fix' 'up-and-at-em' 'motivational' forces... doomed to inject a rapid amount of energy into some 'activity' that fades just as fast or over time... leaving the resolver feeling bad about themselves and their inability to 'stick with things'

instead? face life full-on, do what you need to do, don't grasp at things, don't avoid reality

happy 2006 to you all

Posted by chairman meaow at December 29, 2005 9:06 AM

I will use sunscreen - especially since I started shaving my head this year!

I resolve to be more mindful of the following quote in the coming year:

"I have come to the frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element.

It is my personal approach that creates the climate.

It is my daily mood that makes the weather.

I possess tremendous power to make life miserable or joyous.

I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration.

I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal.

In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis is escalated or de-escalated, and a person is humanized or de-humanized.

If we treat people as they are, we make them worse.

If we treat people as they ought to be, we help them become what they are capable of becoming."

- Goethe, 1749-1832

Tom - thanks for creating a place that expands our thinking, celebrates our uniqueness, and gives form to that person inside us that sees the world as it could be.

May everyone have a wonderous new year!

Posted by walter white at December 29, 2005 10:42 AM

A new year does seem to punctuate things. '05 seemed like it was a brutal year for me. Then I read this quote from Colin Powell yesterday:

"There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work, and learning from failure"

'05 now looks like the year of preparation.

'06 will be the year of execution.
(Larry Bossidy & Ram Charan's book "Execution" will be on my desk all year.)

And yeah...I'm doing alot of things that scare me, but doing them is easier than waiting. I used to ride rodeo and waiting behind the chutes was scarier than bucking out on a bronc or a bull. Once you're on it's just an 8 second ride.

Posted by Tom Coffin at December 29, 2005 12:42 PM

"Give me the young man who has brains enough to make a fool of himself." - Robert Louis Stevenson

Happy New Year everyone! My best wishes to you Tom. Hope we bump into each other on the road in 2006. ;)

Posted by Tom Asacker at December 29, 2005 2:33 PM

Tom_Great Quote. I don't do resolutions but I do have a theme for 2006-it is the year of Exploration. Last year was the year of Re-Invention. It keeps me on track. Best Wishes, Steve

Posted by Steve Mertz at December 29, 2005 9:00 PM

That's a good one.

Posted by Olivier Blanchard at December 29, 2005 11:28 PM

Tom,
My husband - an excellence fanatic and Life Coach - has had your books on our shelves for years. I, not employed, an at-home MOTHER, in fact, am in love with your work and your ethic. I try to bring excellence to my kids, to make braggable activities through theme weeks, and to help them cultivate their compassion. I don't have a resolution for 2006 except to keep doing this at the highest level I can, and to keep in touch with those gurus who help me maintain my highest level week in and week out. You, dear Sir, are one of them.

Posted by Bianca Cowan Dumas at December 30, 2005 11:34 PM

What guidance do you have for bright teenagers, both near (the next year) and long term, to inspire them, to empower them to see opportunities and to make good choices? To gain an understanding of the changing world and the opportunities these changes will present, what should they read (books, blogs), see (shows, films, DVDs) and do for their body and mind? It seems that high schools prepare them to drive by looking in the rearview mirror at what has been rather than looking ahead at what will be, the implicit assumption being that things will continue as they always have. Although they are the future, I see little guidance that helps them to see their future. Sort of New Year's Resolutions / Themes for the emerging adult.

Posted by JMG at December 31, 2005 10:47 AM

Trevor - feel free to stay in touch on marathon advice - did 5 of them including NYC & Boston - plus 20 triathlons.

Posted by Sean at December 31, 2005 11:33 AM

Happy New Year everyone! Don't be scared to take a step forward. Most of the people standing beside you are hoping that someone does. Be the one who steps forward, and encourage others to join you.

slan

Posted by Tom O'Leary at December 31, 2005 5:10 PM

Too true: everything worthwhile is frightening, if only because of the implication of the grandeur of the result ...

I think the point behind Eleanor's wisdom is that everything worth doing takes serious GUTS, and that's why so few managers end up doing something worthwhile: not because they can't (or because they don't have the intellectual and physical tools), but because taking a leap into the unknown is not exactly their idea of fun on a Monday morning. For those who do get their kicks from doing something scary every day, the downside is a cliff-high fall, for sure, but the upside is a Google-sized pay-off where you not only actually get to make a stack of money but change the world in the process.

The second option has hands-down got to generate more meaning to an organisation than those that encourage pushing someone else's numbers into a Hewlett Packard twelve hours a day for a free Business Class lobster meal to Tokyo once a month and a Wyoming ranch ... even if it does mean you have to spin the more conservative shareholders once ina while.

Posted by Daniel M. Harrison at January 1, 2006 9:22 PM

Tom;

This is an excellent direction. Follow your gut. That’s always worked in the past. There is great stuff down this path.

You picked one of our favorite Eleanor Roosevelt quotes. The other we love, is this: ”Most of the good work in the world is done by people who weren’t feeling all that well the day they did it.”

I put up a piece dated 1/1/06 based on your thoughts and these quotes at the link below. I’m writing for startups and emerging enterprises.

Thanks Tom. Happy New Year to you and yours!

Posted by Rick Terrien at January 1, 2006 10:12 PM

I agree 110%! "Do one thing every day that scares you." What an awesome challenge.

Posted by Troy Worman at January 2, 2006 10:43 PM

My "New Year Resolution" will be the same one as for the last several years: if something is important then don't delay or prevaricate but start now.

Posted by Mark JF at January 3, 2006 4:37 AM

I resolve not to make any resolutions for 2006. Darn! Blew it already.

Posted by Mike at January 3, 2006 7:33 AM

I was recently inspired by a weblog called "No one starts with a masterpiece" recently at http://37signals.com/svn/archives2/small_biz_101_no_one_starts_with_a_masterpiece.php written by Ryan Carson.

I mostly work as a consultant, but have been meaning to build some "speculative software" for some time.

The article made me wake up and realise that I wasn't the only one with a bit of fear about the next steps, that a lot of people just don't have the answers. And it really got me moving.

Where I'd been sitting around worrying that what I was going to build had already been done, or whether anyone would want it, it's got me moving on it.

I plan when I build for others, but not for myself. So, I'm starting this as a NYR. Setting more goals for my "speculative development". Planning longer term, but setting short term targets for myself of where I will be by the weekend. Figuring that if I build the application, and it isn't wanted in the market, then I'll learn something new, but worrying about whether it's wanted achieves nothing.

I guess this sounds quite normal to some people here, but I've been fired up for a fortnight now.

If fear is holding you back, have a read of the blog above.

Happy New Year.

Posted by Tim Almond at January 3, 2006 9:38 AM

For JMG. Books for bright teens. My most battered field worn and teen appreciated book on excellence.
The Art of Living -- Epictetus ISBN 006-251322-2
What has stood the test of many world changes will serve them to face the coming world and they seem to know it. The sharp ones love the classics.

Posted by guy dumas at January 4, 2006 10:24 PM