The Worst Day of 2009

I have great news! According to some expert who appears to be the keeper of all useless knowledge, we have already experienced the worst day of 2009. Apparently January 19th was the day. According to Cliff Arnall, a former academic at the University of Cardiff in Wales, it was on this date that a series of variables collided to make one really lousy day, including: we began seeing debts from holiday spending gathering in our mailbox, we saw work as boring because there aren’t many events and holidays in the near future, we were down because the weather was bleak, and we felt like losers because we’ve already broken our New Year’s Resolutions. I hadn’t even thought of those things, but now I’m really depressed.

First, let me say I hope that’s the worst it gets all year long. We all should be so lucky. Second, if you’re buried under a mountain of debt from Christmas, be glad you have a job so you can work on eliminating the debt. Third, if you let the weather determine if you have a good or bad day, brace yourself for many more lousy days. And fourth, you’re better off without those silly New Year’s Resolutions because it’s been proven time and time again that the only thing that will change long-term behavior is a change in lifestyle, not a resolution or any other goal driven by a calendar instead of a true resolve.

As you look at 2009, realize that your success is going to be determined by your willingness to be personally accountable for where you are. As for your “worst” days or “best” days, you are ultimately in charge of how you see the things around you and not a mathematical formula created based on doom and gloom.

It is my sincere hope that you do things that enhance your personal and professional life by resolving to have a better future. Even more than that, it is my hope that having to pay a credit card bill, work a job and let go of a New Year’s Resolution is the worst day you have in 2009!