It’s OK if 2022 is not your “Best Breakthrough Year Ever.”

I just saw an ad for a Tony Robbins thing that starts with something like: “Two years of shutdowns and now inflation and uncertainty are threatening to ruin another year… or, we can make 2022 your best breakthrough year ever!”

Jesus Tony, let up will ya?

I get that Mr Robbins is an optimist, and so am I. I get that he preaches self-improvement and taking responsibility for ones life as a key to happiness, and so do I. Where we part ways is on how incredibly fucking tone deaf he is when people are real victims, are suffering from factors beyond their control, or just generally giving space to the idea that bad shit happened and is happening and that sometimes its enough to just keep the light on.

Its three weeks into January, which is usually enough time for resolutions to be broken and carefully laid plans to not go as well as we hoped. At this juncture I want you to realize four important things:

1. There are things you can control directly, things you can influence to some degree, and things that you have no control or influence over. Taking responsibility (not the same as blame) for what we can control or influence is how we sink our teeth into life and make it better, but that doesn’t mean we have control. In fact, I am going to go ahead and say that the Stoics were wrong: we don’t even have control over our own reactions or behavior most of the time. We do have influence though.

2. The more exert your willed influence over your own behavior and the world around you, the more influence you will have. It’s like a muscle. Just realize that there will always be a ton of things outside your sphere of influence, no matter how big your influence gets. That said, its better to have more than less.

3. Unless your life is seriously off the rails, reinventing yourself is often a bad idea. Especially at times of volatility and upheaval. When people reinvent themselves or determine definitively that they are going to have a breakythrough year, they often build up a new identity in their heads that free of old failures. When habits re-emerge the identity collapses, they give up entirely, or berate themselves for losing to the same demons they have been battling our whole lives. Stressful times like these only make this outcome more probable.

4. With the above in mind, it is worth keeping in mind that times of upheaval and uncertainty almost always hold opportunity within them. You just have to look.

For example:

Worker shortages can give you a leg up on finding a new job or negotiating a raise.
As the world changes more rapidly, new needs emerge. Being one of the first three or so people or businesses to serve these needs can be lucrative.
Not having regular access to some of the things you used to do can actually make setting new habits easier.

Sorcery is a way to further influence things that we ordinarily can’t. Just be aware that it is not all-powerful. The real estate market is bonkers right now, and if you are having a tougher time finding a place to rent or buy, that means Sabnock might also have a tougher time. Still, the two of you working hand in hand have a much better shot than just going it alone, or handing it off to him to handle for you. The strategic sorcert rule of thumb is: Make a plan that could work without sorcery, then use magic to make it better.

This is doubly true for using magic to break a habit, move a set-point, or change a behavior. You really can’t just spell-cast yourself into different habitual patterns. Magic to these ends works best as a catalyst or a seal upon attainment.

My pessimistic mind and analysis of consitions tell me 2022 is going to slide us further into collapse, but my intuition and heart are telling me its the start of better times. However it goes though, be kind to yourself and realize that you are going through more than you might realize just by being alive at this point in history. This does NOT have to be your “best breakthrough year” to make some improvements. The longest and best changes are often not the ones we can trace to a single day or year, but the ones that we persist making while riding the highs and lows of life.