New Year's Eve – A Plea To Think

New Year’s Eve – A time for lamenting the end of the overindulgence in eating, drinking and spending that the Christmas period inevitably brings, and planning for the dreary world of lectures and classes.

By now everyone has learned that New Year Resolutions are rarely still in operation 3 months down the line and probably can’t even be recalled a further 3 months later. Still, there is value in avoiding the computer/television/ [insert distraction here] and thinking. Think about the past year, accomplishments of note, challenges that have been overcome and commitments you’ve made. Think about stuff that’s gone wrong and lessons that can be drawn from them. Think about issues you’d like to change in this coming year.

Once that’s done, consider the physical actions you’d need to take in order to put any changes you’ve come up with into operation. I reckon so few ‘resolutions’ become reality because:

a) People set arbitrary and grandiose goals
b) Little thought is given to planning or the development of some strategy.

This process of reflection is something that could be executed at any point during the year. By doing so, you’re bound to avoid “American Beauty syndrome where after a long period of not thinking seriously about where life is heading you look back, realising you’ve wasted a big chunk of it on stuff that is of little importance.

My New Year’s resolution? Stop sounding like a self-help cheerleader.

: 31 Dec 2004 16:39 |  Comments (0) |  Report a problem