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We need to learn the slow 'yes' and the quick 'no.โ ๐
The end of the year can be a time of resolution writing. And while we might put these thoughts out in to the world with hope, a fav author and joyful designer Ingrid Fetell Lee in her blog, the Aesthetics of Joy, asks, โWhy do most resolutions fall flat almost as fast as our New Yearโs champagne?โ1
A closer look finds that resolutions are so frequently oriented in the negative. It turns out that this is part of the problem.
It is much harder to orient ourselves towards positive change using negative language, or what the research calls avoidance goals rather than orienting positively with affirmative goals.
Imagine if we reoriented our new year with guiding principles for life, providing a more positive frame. It does not need to be specific, more like be curious. What is important to us? Follow purpose. What do we like to do? Do more of that.
How can we create a framework that might let us live into our values?
This is a call for creating a new yearโs framework.
The Big Idea
Iโve been thinking about how to frame the coming year in actions, values and ideas. Some sources Iโve been digging in to call this a Manifesto.2 Others a credo, a maxim, a mantra, a set of guiding principles. I am calling it a New Yearโs Framework.
What this isnโt:
Resolutions.
A whole new you.
Something you can fail by February.
What this is, (or could be):
A call for an articulation of values, beliefs, or words that are important to you.
A practical visual tool for decision making and action taking.
A guide or map that aids in taking meaningful risks.
And here is the call to action. If we can:
identify our YESes, our NOs,
share them (visually), and
declare themโฆ
โฆ(whatever we call this), we can be encouraged to persist in something that genuinely resonates with our values.
If you want to get inspired by some public statements check these out. Even better, some personal frameworks created out loud by some brilliant women Friday night in Philly. And further inspiration and gorgeous visuals by artist and Substack author
in her post My Artist Manifesto.Making Big Ideas Usable
This year, I want to be guided by boundaries - what I want to say YES to, and those things I need to say no to MORE. If this sounds intriguing to you, Iโve broken down the process into these 5 steps.
Creating a Manifesto/Mantra/Credo/Framework
Set your frame. You might choose to do this by answering the writing prompts below. Stream-of-conscious notes are best - they can help you be honest.
Gather. Find inspiration from examples above, and take the ideas that resonate. โFind wisdom anywhere. Find inspiration everywhere.โ
Boldly proclaim. This is about actionโ about choosing daily to live the life you envision. Circle your boldest statements and convictions. Rewrite them to be strong and succinct statements. Start each with a verb.
Visualize. Add images, or create a collage. I might make mine into a poster.
Keep revisiting and revising. Try making it with others. It's a great way to get people sharing about what matters most to them.
Create Your Own 2024 Framework Prompts:
Words or concepts that guide meโฆ
Things I valueโฆ.
Things that give me joyโฆ
((Things that donโt give me joyโฆ))
I want to say yes toโฆ
I will dare to say no toโฆ
A cause/idea/concept I want to undertake
I believe inโฆ
My own framework for this coming year is evolving. Here what I am thinking, and my sources of inspiration.
Create new worlds. (Priya Parker)
Listen. Learn. Start Leading. (Ness Labs)
Make interesting things, meet interesting people. (Everywhere/Anywhere)
Bring people together to learn across settings. (School of Thought 2024)
I am still working on it. And I am adding visuals.
I am teaching myself how to ask new questions and find ways to dig further into the human side of listening. I am hoping this helps me say no to things that donโt fit within my why, helping me feel especially tuned in to my work and people around me.
Putting language to beliefs and values, crafting them with specific words, allows us to create personal principles. This is my hope for the new year, that I can be guided by principles, set boundaries, and lean into more opportunities to say YES.
If you want a gorgeous visual resources, check out the book You Need a Manifesto, by Charlotte Burgess Auburn, published by Stanfordโs d.school.๐
Critical Connections Over Critical Mass
Connecting and Improving Youthโs Post Secondary Journey; with Teach For Americaโs Reinvention Lab ย January 18th 4pm EST
Join to be inspired by this research and the visuals that accompany it. To the researchers, โSuccess means connecting and improving youthโs or post-secondary journey.โย Colleen Keating-Crawford and Elizabeth Boozeย conducted an ethnographic study in 2023, which resulted in beautiful stories, graphics and a sense of the post high school journey in the US today. They will share findings in this interactive (it will be super fun) presentation.
**If you have not received an invitation and would like to join, please reach out or become a paid subscriber.
Creating Cultures of Questioning, with Cortico. Featuring Alex Kelly Berman and Hana Carey, March 19th in Philadelphia. ย DM for details.
In this session, Hana Carey and Alex Kelly Berman from Cortico, a non-profit partnered with MITโs Center for Constructive Communication, will share strategies for engaging in constructive conversations with those who hold different worldviews. They will share ways to listen, learn and lead in seeing issues from varying, even contradictory perspectives.ย
If you are going to be in Philadelphia in March of 2024 and youโd like to learn more about our in person School of Thought gatherings on March 19th, please reach out.
Follow for more SOT Visuals in Your Feeds
๐ฆย Twitter/Xย : Where you find the latest visuals.
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Available soon (!) for subscribers: a Mini Ebook, The Visual Factor, which will walk through the WHY of visualizing with workshops to follow on HOW.
Click on the image below for a little parting piece (sound ON):๐
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See you soon. ๐I appreciate Follow for more SOT Visuals in Your Feeds
๐ฆย Twitterย : Where you find the latest visuals.
๐ทย Instagramย : All visuals in one place.
๐ย LinkedIn: Visuals + Deep-Dives.
Available soon for subscribers: a Mini Ebook, The Visual Factor, which will walk through the WHY of visualizing with workshops to follow on HOW.
Click on the image below for a little parting piece (sound ON):๐
In writing this post, I learned that failing at New Yearโs resolutions is so common that thereโs even a slew of (unofficial) dates commemorating such failuresโsome sources cite โDitch New Yearโs Resolutions Dayโ as January 17 while others denote the second Friday in January as โQuitterโs Day.โ