You learned it in school, but most of us forget why we have a leap year, and why it is significant.
The Gregorian calendar, which now serves as the standard calendar for civil use throughout the world, has both common years and leap years. This calendar closely follows the Julian calendar, which was introduced by Julius Caesar in 45 B.C. This calendar has common year which has 365 days and a leap year 366 days, with the extra day designated as February 29. A leap year occurs every four years to help synchronize the calendar year with the solar year, or the length of time it takes the earth to complete its orbit about the sun, which is about 365¼ days.
The length of the solar year, however, is slightly less than 365¼ days—by about 11 minutes. To compensate for this discrepancy, the leap year is omitted three times every four hundred years. The easiest ways to remember which years are leap years is if they are divisible by 400.
All of the factual information said, for most of us Leap Year Day is just another day or is a silly reason to have a party, or to “do something” different because it is leap day. (Unless of course you were ACTUALLY born on February 29th). The truth is, we can make that statement about any day. But as humans we always seem to need a reason to do something different with our day. We like consistent, we like comfort, and most of us dislike change. Except on a day where we somehow have a reason to do something different. Like, February 29th. Here are 9, not 29 things you can do to “leap” into those things you said you were going to do the last time we had a reason to do something different (New Year’s Day).
1. Revisit the things you said you were going to do, and see if you are doing them. If you are, to what degree are you doing them? Why is it working or not working? Re-evaluate, adjust, and congratulate yourself for following through on making a change.
2. Read. Reading is one of those things we either naturally love to do, or it is a daunting task. Either way, it doesn’t matter. You should do it. Reading fills a number of things you might not think about. 1. Obviously, it can provide knowledge. I did’t say you needed to read a novel. Or the next best self help book. i just said read. If you are self employed, read something that pertains to your industry. If you work for someone else, read something that expands your personal knowledge on something. 2. Reading is a sign of discipline. If you commit to reading daily, even if it is for 10 minutes, it builds discipline. Discipline builds confidence. Confidence helps to create results.
3. Try something new. Again, this is the standard cliche’ we use in our new year resolutions. Most of us don’t follow through. Or don’t even know where to begin. The point is to begin. If you didn’t do it on January 1st. Do it on February 29th. Look for something that you have interest in, and try it. It might be building signs out of barn-wood, or blowing glass, or taking a Yoga class, or even just planting a garden. Whatever it is, read about it, and then follow through. It may not become your life’s passion, but it almost always opens other doors for relationships, opportunities or growth. And none of those are bad.
4. Exercise. Yes, of course we had to put this one on here. None of us can over exercise. The thing about exercise is to not start out with an unachievable goal. It will burn you out, frustrate you and you will quit. If the only thing you can do is to stand up or walk to the kitchen and back during a commercial then that is better than sitting through the commercial. (You have already seen the commercial anyway).
5. Volunteer. I could write all day about the importance of volunteering. A lot of people say they don’t have time, or don’t know what to do. But the truth is not volunteering is being selfish. Volunteering like anything else in your life requires a commitment. Choosing to support something even if it is only 2 hours a month, is better than supporting nothing at all. Volunteering meets needs on so many levels. First it clearly provides opportunity for those in need. Second it allows you to give back something you have, either time, a skill, money or all of the above. Third, it does the heart good. Our brain accepts giving and receiving in the same way. There is just as much joy in giving to someone as there is in receiving. Find something you care about, and find out how you can help.
6. Plan you day better. Again, this is pretty basic, but for many of us, if we do not intentiionally plan our day, the day will plan us. You have to act with intention on what you expect to accomplish. And that doesn’t just mean in your head. You need to write it down or put it in a gadget or whatever to hold yourself accountable for what you expect to get done. Flexibility of course is required, but you start with a plan, and modify as required.
7. Find someone who will hold you accountable. This is a big one. We all need to have accountability partners. This can be for business, or for exercise, or for personal relationships. It can be for anything. If we are the only ones to hold ourselves accountable we will always fail. Our brain can justify just about anything it wants.
8. Be Intentional and Be Present. This is much easier to say than it is to do. To be intentional with your time means you have to plan. To be Present means you have to stop multi-tasking. You have to distinctly seperate your personal time from your work time. If you are with your family, don’t be listening in one ear, and writing an email in the next (mom’s are famous for that). . Everything must be done with an intentional result. Then you will get intentional results.
Last, This February represents two things:
9. Love and Leap. Why Don’t you choose both? When is the last time you intentionally loved someone? You stopped looking for the flaws, the irritations, the things that drive you crazy, and really just loved them? it’s hard. it takes effort. But it is worth it. Just think of what our world would look like if we all loved. Then, “leap”. Take a look at these 9 ways to use February 29th to “leap” forward with the things you planned to do in January. Stop. Reset, and take the next big leap forward.
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