Is It Time to Build Your Everyday Resume?

On New Year’s Eve 2023, each of my family members picked a word for 2024. Whatever word we chose is one we’d focus on and integrate into our lives for the year – a New Year’s resolution. When choosing my word, I thought about what the best coach I ever had told me, “You don’t get better in the games, you get better in practice.” So, I decided to pick the word practice. We all committed to live true to our word and scheduled monthly calls to check in on our progress throughout the year. It was all settled…or was it?

There’s a date tied to New Year’s resolutions like these – the second Friday of January. It’s called Quitter’s Day. It’s when most “resoluters” give up their commitments for the new year. Most of the people I know don’t make these resolutions anymore, simply because they never follow through. 

But I stuck with it. I “practiced” building my knowledge about my work, being a better husband and dad (as well as a better person in general) and running to stay in better shape. This was all pretty easy to focus on for a few weeks, but then things got increasingly harder. My motivation waned and the little critic in my head started saying things like:

“You’ve been working in your field for almost 40 years, no need to sit down and read 10 pages of that book tonight. It’s more fun to watch the football game.”

“You’ve been married for 38 years; how much better do you need to be?”

“You’re in pretty good shape for a 66-year-old – why get up at 5:00 a.m. to run? Go back to sleep.”

I had to win the war within if I wasn’t going to be another quitter. So, I started shifting my mindset from inner critic to inner coach. I changed my internal dialogue to focus on the benefits of the effort. I started to write down what I’d accomplished every day, and I’d review it at the end of the week to recognize my progress. While I’m impatient, I kept reminding myself that incremental effort done consistently leads to exponential growth. Good things in life take time, right?

As 2024 came to a close, I had achieved success in following through on my word. To keep this kind of commitment, you have to do your best work, especially in the moments when you aren’t motivated. Some days when the alarm went off at 5:00 a.m., I’d keep telling myself I’d get in my run, that all I had to do was get out of bed. The biggest thing I learned was that when it’s time to make sacrifices, goals of excellence fade away. It takes giving things up to follow through on big commitments. You just have to decide if the sacrifice is worth reaching those goals.

As 2025 begins, I’m working on building my “everyday resume” with goals like these. Each day, I’m taking a few small actions that will make me better tomorrow than I am today. Time will tell if I can keep the momentum going.

But now I pose the same question to you…is it time to build your everyday resume too?

Joe Bertotto has more than three decades of experience helping leaders improve their workplace cultures. He is the SVP/chief culture officer at Vizo Financial Corporate Credit Union and a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach. In 2014, Joe was named a Credit Union Rock Star by Credit Union Magazine. He also recently published his book, Pick Up the Gum Wrapper: How To Create a Workplace That Increases Performance While Improving Lives, which credit union leaders have been using as a guide to increase the effectiveness of their leadership skills and overall culture.