Editor's Column

How’s Your Resolve?
By: Matthew L. Harris, Esq.

I read something interesting recently that I’ve heard many times before and is probably something that you’ve already heard passed around the water cooler. (Are water coolers even a thing anymore? I digress.)

What I read was this statistic: “80 percent of New Year’s resolutions fail by the second week of February.”

Well, since we just passed the second week of February, statistically, this means that about 80 percent of the things that you resolved to accomplish in 2018 have already failed. How depressing!

That being said, this doesn’t mean that your 2018 is a waste, that you might as well quit, and all you can do is hope for a better 2019. In fact, this is your chance to double-down on your resolutions and make the next 10 months the best you can! Think about it this way: If one of your resolutions involved a gym, and 80 percent of resolutions fail, that means that 80 percent of the people clogging up the gym won’t be in your way anymore.

I’m not sure who I heard say this, it could have been Zig Ziglar or Les Brown, but most goals can be attributed to three key areas: Health Goals, Relationship Goals, and Financial/Career Goals.

When setting, or re-setting, your resolutions you must first understand what it is that you are undertaking. A resolution is not a dream. It’s not a hope, a wish, or a desire. Resolution comes from resolve, which means to “decide firmly on a course of action.” Remember that your resolution is your firm decision on a course of action, and then don’t let anything stand in your way of accomplishing all that you have resolved to do.

As attorneys, we have experience in dealing with resolutions on a different scale as every organization and nonprofit that we find ourselves a part of incorporates a resolution into the minutes of the meetings. We understand the importance of resolutions when it comes to corporate bylaws, but do we embrace the same importance when we set resolutions for ourselves?

Section 1, Para. 1 of the Texas Lawyer’s Creed states, “I am passionately proud of my profession. Therefore, ‘My word is my bond.’”

When we set resolutions for ourselves in January of each year, and thereby resolve to accomplish certain things during the year, do we hold the words of our resolutions with the same bond?

If we can’t be honest with ourselves, how can we be honest with our colleagues? If we can’t be honest with ourselves, how can we be honest with our clients and with the court?

So, as we pass over the second week of February and realize that our bond was only surety for 20 percent of our resolutions, I hope that you’ll join with me in finding that other 80 percent and recommit to completing what was important enough for us to promise to ourselves just a few weeks ago.

Matthew L. Harris, Esq., is the District 3 director for the Texas Young Lawyers Association, as well as the co-chair of the Pamphlets and Implementation Committee. Matthew is also the chief attorney at Matthew Harris Law, PLLC, in Lubbock, where his primary practice areas are family law and civil litigation. He can be reached by email at Matthew@MatthewHarrisLaw.com.