June 4: Happy New Year!

Remember the flush of excitement that came around with the New Year? Resolutions made in earnest for change? This will be the year that . . . Well, here we are, about to come to the half-way point in the year. How have you been doing?

If you have already accomplished your New Year's resolutions, Congratulations! You garage is cleared, the car serviced regularly, and a definitive vacation booked for this year. That's the attraction of "doing" goals—you do them and they are, well, done! The Basic Self gets to check them off and feel that wonderful sense of completion. Next!

Of course, a little more elusive are the "being" goals. Little, perhaps, in the same way that the captain of the Titanic might have said, "Is that a little iceberg out there?" Being goals offer ongoing opportunities for improvement. They are more of a journey than a destination in the way that doing goals can be. More of a process than an event.

I remember one of mine was to spend more quality time with my family. And I have certainly made strides in that direction. But as I ran early on Saturday morning and thought about my New Year's intentions, I recognized that I had not yet managed to put aside all my work, hobby, and school obligations for an entire weekend this year. There had always been an hour's reading here, an extra workout there, or a handful of e-mails that just had to be handled.

As I ran, I began telling myself that it was New Year's Day. Today. After all, there is no such thing as time; isn't that what the scientists tell us? I mean, I can make this any day I want, right? And as I began to tell myself it was New Year's Day, as I continued to ask myself, "If this was New Year's Day, what my intentions for the coming year be?" I found that creative, inspirational, possibility-filled energy that can come with the first day of the year starting to course through my body.

I learned two things as I did this "New Year's" workout in early June. First, if I'm looking for a personal best time, pretend it's the first day of the year—try it and see how you strip minutes of your time!

Second, I learned that New Year's Day is a myth—and that's a good thing. Why? Because, the place inside of me that I allow myself to go on New Year's day is available throughout the year! It has nothing to do with the calendar, it is about the choices I make as to what I am willing to believe is possible in my life. January 1, June 4, November 5. Whenever.

As you work out today, allow yourself to invoke the imaginative, forward-focused, positive thinker who began the year. No need to focus on what is undone, more importantly focus on what you'd like to get done in the second half of the year. Even if, like me, one of your doing goals is to do less!

After a wonderfully relaxing weekend with my family without any work, study, or other interruptions, I awoke refreshed, inspired, and ready to go . . . to enjoy my next New Year's Day! In fact, from now on, there is only going to be one day in my year. Or, more accurately, 365 New Year's days!