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One Simple Change for 2014

By
Home Inspector with Acuity Home Inspections IL LIC. 450.03340

'Tis the season for resolutions!

And I am NOT a big resolution guy.  I used to be, but not anymore. As I get older, I tend to make resolutions, take inventory, and make course corrections throughout the year, as opposed to waiting for the "I'm gonna change everything about my life starting on January first NEXT year" approach. 

It just seems to make more sense. We can spend time with self-examination, to-do-lists, and vision/planning work every day of the year. Why wait until the ragged end of the old year to think about the days to come?

So, if I make any resolutions at all, I try to avoid the grand gestures and look, instead, at the small stuff.

My plan for 2014 is simple... and it's a continuation of a practice that I've been following for several weeks already:  

I am going to physically dial the phone numbers of the people who are close to me.

Before the invention of the cell phone, it was very common for an ordinary person to have twenty phone numbers (or more) committed to memory.

Your closest friends, your relatives, important business associates... there was a time that we knew each others phone numbers.

This is one of the ways that technology is making us dumb. Do you know the phone numbers for the important people in your life?

For me, the answer is often "no." After all, I don't need this information... it's all in my phone!

The only problem is, this makes me completely dependent on a small electronic device that can easily be lost, broken, or stolen. Much better if I have one or two phone numbers in my head, in case I need to use them in an unusual circumstance.

I'm going "old school" for the new year. When I call my close friends, family, or business associates, I'm going to take the extra fifteen seconds to actually dial the number. I bet I'll have a dozen numbers memorized by the first of February.

What are your plans for 2014?

Show All Comments Sort:
Rob D. Shepherd
RETIRED - Florence, OR
RETIRED

I just got my first smart phone, I put it off because I am worried I will become one of "them". The people who have got stupid because the phone does all the thinking for them.

Dec 29, 2013 09:28 AM
Robert Fowler - 55CommunityGuide.com
President of Retirement Media Inc. - Braselton, GA
55+, Active Adult and Retirement Communities

Watch off for misdialing.  When I try to punch the keys I end up with some wrong number. How did I do that? I ask myself.

Dec 29, 2013 09:39 AM
Tom Jansson
Acuity Home Inspections - Chicago, IL
Chicago Area Home Inspector - InterNACHI Certified

Rob D.- I put off the smartphone for as long as I could. In the end, it was the right thing to get one. They can be put to lots of good use... I have a home inspector license look-up on mine, so if you're working in my neck of the woods you better be legit!

 

Rob F- I know, the misdial's a hazard. My phone has a predictive feature, so when I punch in the number it will tell me who I'm calling... there's a fail-safe built in.

Dec 29, 2013 11:26 AM
Fred Griffin Florida Real Estate
Fred Griffin Real Estate - Tallahassee, FL
Licensed Florida Real Estate Broker

What annoys me are alpha-numeric phone numbers such as 1-800-CALL-NOW which do not work on a Blackberry or other smartphones.

Dec 29, 2013 12:12 PM
Tom Jansson
Acuity Home Inspections - Chicago, IL
Chicago Area Home Inspector - InterNACHI Certified

Samsung must have realized that would be a problem... they still list the letters beneath the numbers on my Galaxy S3...

Dec 29, 2013 12:24 PM
Lenn Harley
Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate - Leesburg, VA
Real Estate Broker - Virginia & Maryland

My resolution is no resolutions.

When a change is needed, just make it.  Saves time and energy.

Dec 29, 2013 09:49 PM
Fred Hernden, CMI
Superior Home Inspections - Greater Albuquerque Area - Albuquerque, NM
Albuquerque area Master Inspector

Making those ridiculous resolutions is merely setting yourself up to fail. I don't remember all the numbers in my phone, but when I see one I usually know who it is... even if the caller ID doesn't work. Does that count?

Dec 29, 2013 10:05 PM
Tom Jansson
Acuity Home Inspections - Chicago, IL
Chicago Area Home Inspector - InterNACHI Certified

Lenn - it's great to have the ability to adapt and fix things on the fly!

Fred - I'm not sure if I'm with you on that. Sometimes we need to fail a couple times before a new behaviour takes hold. The act of making a resolution can be a powerful affirmation of the desire to change... I guess the point I was tying to make is that striving for improvement is something we can do at any time of the year!

That being said, there's something magical about the annual calender reset. There is a sense of starting anew. 

Jan 10, 2014 08:53 AM
Scott Seaton Jr. SLS Home Insp
SLS Home Inspections-Kankakee Will Iroquois Grundy Counties - Bourbonnais, IL
The Home Inspector With a Heart!

Tom, New year, New Month, New week or day, all can be used as a start fresh point. I like the phone idea, just don't do it when driving in Illinois. they'll get ya.

Jan 17, 2014 09:45 PM
Tom Jansson
Acuity Home Inspections - Chicago, IL
Chicago Area Home Inspector - InterNACHI Certified

You got that right, Scott! New year, new laws!

I hope you have a fantastic 2014!

Jan 17, 2014 11:36 PM