A Letter from Chris Suarez
THE TURNING OF A PAGE
And so we turn the page. Perhaps one chapter has just ended and a new one has begun. Never before have I seen so many so ready for a new year. So ready to turn the page, start a new chapter, or perhaps close one book and start a new one.
Human beings love temporal landmarks. We love the first day of the year, the first day of the month, the first day of the week. It’s because it brings with it the sense and belief that we were just given a new beginning and a fresh start. That the past no longer matters, can be forgotten, or even better, it never happened.
But the fact remains that the 1st day of the new year is no different than the last day of the previous year. It’s no different than the 16th day, or the 84th day, or the 122nd day of the year.
As one year ends and another begins, our human tendency is to put huge emphasis and value on that landmark. And although I love a fresh start as much as the rest, I realized years ago that every day is a fresh start. Waiting for Monday, or next month, or a new year, well, it’s just that. It’s waiting. Waiting for a temporal landmark in effect is just giving ourselves permission to not make the changes we knew we needed to make today, or be the change we wish to see around us, today. Fresh starts are available every day. Fresh starts are free every day.
As Jeff Bezos has said in every letter to his shareholders since he started Amazon, “It’s always day one.”
To some, that may seem exhausting. But it should be exhilarating and energizing. It should be freeing. It should be forgiving. It should be focusing. And it should be experiential.
Some days we win and others we lose. We are all entitled to a bad day, a bad week even. A bad month or a bad year though, falls on our own shoulders.
If we think a new date on the calendar will bring us different results, or bring us a new environment, or bring us hope, or bring us more happiness, we may be very quickly disappointed. The turning of a page won’t automatically fix anything. It won’t eliminate sickness, it won’t improve leadership, it doesn’t make people automatically kinder and more united. It won’t change the headlines, build closer relationships, or solve any real problems.
Scrolling through literally hundreds of perspectives on social media about the year we are exiting, you will be hit with a percentage of people writing 2020 off as their worst year ever. You will be hit with a percentage of people writing 2020 off as their best year ever. That isn’t any different than social media on January 1st 2020, or 2019, or 2018. And I promise it won’t be any different than January 1st, 2022. It’s simply the turning of a page. Perspective.
In fact, if we are not careful, a stranger’s perspective will become our perspective. A journalist’s perspective will become our perspective. A group’s perspective will become our perspective. We will see what they see, believe what they believe, do what they do, and experience what they experience. Often in the last 12 month’s life seemed to play out like the guy who just bought a Ford, or the woman that just found out she was pregnant, or the family that just got a new Labrador. As the guy drives down the road, all he sees is Ford. As the woman walks down the street, all she sees is pregnant women and new-born babies. As the family walks down the beach or hikes through the woods, all they see is Labradors. Whatever we are thinking about, focused on, or exposed to can quickly become our reference point or our belief. There are no more Ford’s on the road this year than last year. There are no more pregnant women on the street today than yesterday (well, statistically the pandemic and time indoors actually did increase that one). There are no more Labradors on the trail this time than last time. But we are programmed to see what we are thinking about. And at times we think about what we have been programmed to see. We need to help change that narrative for ourselves and those around us.
That isn’t to say that life is all mindset and positive thinking. I’m not that guy. We don’t just “think” things into existence. We “do” things into existence.
As I read so many perspectives on a year that has just closed, It hit me that last year was not unlike any other year. There were some low points and there were high points. Next year will bring with it some low points and some high points. And as much as anything, it will bring with it what we put into it, every single day. It will give us, what we give it. What we are looking for will show up.
And so we turn the page, just like we did yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that. And just like we will do tomorrow.
Even as a new chapter starts, the one before is still in our book. It’s part of our plot. And even if we closed one book to open the next, I promise, the new one is just part of our series. Now, some of us are readers, some of us editors, and some are writers. We can just read what’s on the page that was given to us, we can edit and make changes to the page that we’ve been handed, or we can write our own story.
The page turn is not enough. It’s what we do next that matters.
Chris
