The year ahead is a blank slate. A white page. The events to come are offstage, waiting in the wings. You have an opportunity to re-engineer, to reinvent, to restructure your life. So let’s start the makeover, the new you. Remember your dreams, your aspirations, things you have always wanted to try, to learn. Listen carefully to yourself. Talk to a friend. Take notes. Look at the four quadrants of your life — family, work, social and personal.
Start with ‘personal’: Before you are a parent, a team member, an elder... you are a person. Usually, people give their own needs the lowest priority. Here are a few suggestions:
Personal goals: Improve your health by eating healthy, exercising daily by going for a walk for at least 45 minutes. Practice yoga and meditation.
Family: Spend more time with family by doing more fun things together, having meals together at least once a day without the distraction of TV, cell phones or newspapers.
Work: Expand your sphere of influence, attend training programmes.
Social: Keep in touch with the extended family by meeting old friends. Become involved in an NGO or neighbourhood organisation to help others, while you spend your spare time usefully. During the coming year, identity your new work life balance. Approach it like a menu. See what you want to add and what you want to remove.
Get the training required. Get organized. Get networked. You will need a lot of help to make things happen. Make a plan. Find a way to measure progress and readjust as you go along to reach the goals you have identified. Get set for the New Year!
The writer is the author of Everyday Happiness Mantras and Innovation Sutra
