Resolutions Suck. Do Dope Shit Instead.
Resolutions don’t work. Experience more by giving yourself permission.
There seems to be about exactly three practical ways to tackle the year ahead. The classic path of resolutions, the emerging practice of choosing a word of the year, or just saying fuck it, and doing what you’ve always done.
The later strategy is effectively no strategy at all.
And the practice of New Year Resolutions has largely failed us, if it ever worked at all.
According to some research done in 2016, only 9% of Americans who make New Year’s resolutions feel they were successful in keeping them. Said another way, of those who actually set a resolution, 91% fail to keep them.
It’s no wonder resolutions fail. The root word is resolve, or re-solve. We’re literally making a resolution to attempt again that which has already eluded us. It’s only a minor improvement on the fuck it strategy.
The emerging alternative is to declare an intention through a single, powerful, representative word. Words like abundance, joy, peace, calm, stewardship, Areté, love, hope, service, presence, or connection.
All good words, and setting an intention, for me at least, and having a theme to what I want to experience for the new year, has had some power behind it.
Last year, my word was Areté. For those unfamiliar with the word, it generally means to pursue the best version of yourself.
Under that guidance, I committed to self improvement. It resulted in my best year ever in body, being, balance, and business.
But this year, instead of single word, I’m choosing a phrase. And my phrase is Do Dope Shit.
Do Dope Shit
In late November, and incredible life was tragically cut short after a tragic accident while on vacation. His name was A.J. Goldsmith. We didn’t know each other well, but we were both affiliated with a local non-profit. A.J.’s left behind a beautiful wife, and an immense amount of impact and potential.
After learning of his passing, I went down a rabbit hole learning about him. AJ had a life motto, which was Do Dope Shit. It was more than focal phrase for the year ahead. He embodied those words in every aspect of living, and by every account, he did it very well. He was one of those human experiences you felt long after the moment of meeting him had passed.
Eleanor Rosevelt once said “the purpose of life is to live it. To taste experience to the utmost. To reach eagerly and without fear for new and richer experiences.”
A.J.’s “Do Dope Shit” says the exact same thing, just much more succinctly.
Do Dope Shit is fundamentally about the pursuit of prosperity.
Let’s pause and look at that word.
Did you know the word prosperity literally means to go forward with hope. ”Therefore, prosperity, “is not so much a condition in life as it is an attitude towards life,” author Eric Butterworth.
So what would Doing Dope Shit look like for you?
So many have this internal resistance to the pursuit of abundance or prosperity. Some internal barrier that says we are not worthy. Ask yourself, in this moment, do you allow yourself to go forward with hope?
Or are you first littered with excuses? Too busy. Not enough money. Not realistic. Too much kid stuff. To much work stuff.
What experiences have been left untackled. What appreciations have been left unsaid. What dreams have gone unrealized. What adventures have been left unthread…. — 2023 5 Martini Ode
Are you willing to give yourself permission?
If prosperity is to go forward with hope, and the desire for prosperity is not so much a condition of life but a an attitude towards life, then let me ask you, what the heck is holding you back. Why will you not give yourself permission?
To even begin to Do Dope Shit, it must begin with permission. Permission to purse a better version of you.
For some that may be truly reaching for new and richer experiences. For others, it may be simply leaning into the daily habits needed to position yourself to experience those new and richer experiences at a future date.
Maybe it’s not possible now because your body isn’t where it needs to be do to Do Dope Shit. Maybe you believe you lack the financial foundation to Do Dope Shit. Maybe you simply don’t believe you deserve to be prosperous.
If any of those apply, start there. Meet those obstacles head on, and remember that OMMS — Obstacles Make Me Stronger.
Your outcomes are a lagging measure of your habits. Your net worth is a lagging measure of your financial habits. your weight is a lagging measure of your eating habits. Your knowledge is a lagging measure of your learning habits. Your clutter is a lagging measure of your cleaning habits. You get what you repeat. — James Clear, author of Atomic Habits
I too once felt that Doing Dope Shit was beyond my ability. I had too many obligations, and too much work to be done. I didn’t have the necessary sense of self-worth.
But then I started chipping away at it. I began waking a little earlier and waking regardless of how well I slept. I started reading books that lifted me up and taught me new ways to think. I hired a coach, who became a mentor. I joined a group of men who shared that passion for self improvement. I started working out every day, even if it was just simply going for a walk (where everyone should start, by the way). I started taking my wife on dates, then on trips, consistently. I began reading the Bible, connecting with the Source. I hired a trainer and nutritionist and lost 40 lbs.
I transformed my body, and my mindset. I turned things around.
It wasn’t a fast process. It’s been five years of consistently deciding that I was worthy, and then doing the daily work to fulfill that belief.
Maybe that’s where you need to start. Maybe Doing Dope Shit is just getting your ass out of bed and taking action on you.
Or maybe it’s something more. Maybe it’s permission to take some time off work and go do that thing… whatever it is. Travel. Experience. Love. Live. Connect.
It’s up to you, but if you take nothing else away from this conversation, then listen closely. You are worthy. You are capable of experiencing prosperity. All you have do is begin. Today. Accept yourself. Do the best you can and do fully what you can. Not someday. Today.
Here’s a few ideas of what Doing Dope Shit Looks Like for Me.
Last year was a massive year of transformation for me. It was the year when everything just worked. Doing dope shit begins with me demonstrating to myself this is in my control. I will commit to and live with the body I love.
Doing Dope Shit means a big fat hairy stretch goal. I turned 50 in November, but I’ve started running again and I’ve set my sights on running the Run Rabbit Run 50 Mile Ultra in September.
Doing Dope Shit means finally figuring out how to build the writing habit into my daily habits, so that I can create and give something to the world.
Doing Dope Shit means means living by the mantra that if it’s not a hell yes, it’s a no.
It means going new places and seeing new things with my wife. Spain in February. Concerts. The mountains. Hikes. Time with our kids. Belize for Christmas. We’re calling it Belize Navidad.
It means tasting experience to the utmost. Enjoying phone free connections. Friends. Love. Laughter.
It means showing up every fucking day and doing all that I can to be the best version of myself in energy, work and love.
What I know, and A.J.’s passing taught me, is that life is short. There are no guarantees. If if it’s going to be, it’s up to me.
So stop with the resolutions. Tap into something bigger. Give your self a chance to experience prosperity so that your life has a chance to become prosperous.
Do Dope Shit. There’s no time to waste a day. If you can’t do dope shit for yourself, do it for A.J.
Before closing, I would be remiss if I didn’t share with you a chance to support represent AJ’s Do Dope Shit, while also supporting his wife.
His friends and family set up a site where you can purchase Do Dope Shit gear. Check it out at causeteam.com.
Now, get after it.
Happy 2024.
Thanks for reading,
Jim