POP!

That's my new word for the new year.

I know. It's not so new anymore.

That's okay.

It has been my word for three weeks. I just haven't written about it until now.

So what's pop about?

Well, first, pop is an acronym.

What's an acronym?

An acronym is when you pronounce the initials (the first letters of each word) altogether like they are one word or you say them all in row, all together, just the letters.

Examples:

AIDS: Aquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome

FYI: for your information

OT: over time

HR: human resources

UFO: unidentified flying object

We always say that acronyms "stand for" something.

What does "stand for" mean?

It means they take the place of something else. They stand there in the same place as the thing they represent. They represent!

One more thing: whenever you see "nym" remember that it means word or name. So you know an acronym 0r a pseudonym or an antonym or a synonym is going to have something to do with name or word. It is will be about what we call something.

So what does POP stand for?

It stands for the plus one program.

And what's that about?

Well, let's get real.

So far, this year I've written about change.

Making change - the kind you want - it's usually pretty hard, hunh?

Yeah, it is.

Some changes happen big and fast - like earthquakes and tsunamis.

But the ones we want? Losing weight. Better health. Better relationships. Better jobs. Better English.

They take time.

And sometimes it's hard.

Or boring.

Or hard AND boring.

(That's the worst, hunh?!)

So that's why I recommend the plus one program.

Because I know a thing or two about change, myself, and how hard it can be and I'm trying to make a few changes, myself, this year.

So when you're doing something new, something you need to do to make good things happen, something that needs to be done but it's hard or boring or hard AND boring, do what you think you can do -

and then do one more minute or turn or sentence or fold or pushup or kind word or resume or phone call or thank you note or page of the story you reading to your four year old.

Just

one

more.

That's it.

That's the plus one program.

And how and why does that work?

We can't make have something we want without change, right?

Because getting what we want IS change.

And usually those changes are hard, right?

And it's hard to do hard things, right?

So we have to do them little by little.

And what's the amazing thing about human beings?

Well, there are a lot of amazing things. But one of them is: when we do something hard, we get stronger.

Even if we do just a little bit harder, we get stronger.

So we don't have to do EVERYTHING.

We don't have to make the whole change TODAY.

Who wants to?

Who can?

Not me.

We just have to make little changes.

And pretty soon those little changes don't feel like changes. They feel normal.

It feels normal to do twenty one sit-ups instead of twenty.

It feels normal to be patient with our kids or our parents or our husband or wife or neighbor for sixteen minutes instead of fifteen.

It feels normal to study English for eleven minutes instead of ten.

And then we get stronger. And faster. And more patient. And all kinds of good stuff happens.

And then... you know... pretty soon we want MORE changes.

Because that's how humans are.

Most of us, anyway.

What do you think?