Happy new year... A bit late, I know, but hey, it's still only February, so it is still a valid greeting (I think?). Besides, this is my first post for this year and so what better way to start with than a positive and happy greeting for a new year ahead! People usually (including yours truly) tend to start a new year in one of two ways... either you are positive and gung-ho about what's to come in the next 365 days, or else you have been so beaten up by the year gone by, and you are just expecting another downer... you almost couldn't care less if it were a new year, new decade or a new century.
Most people tend to take the former route; the positive one that is, looking at the year ahead with joy, hope and optimism. These are also the ones, more often than not, who are looking to set themselves some goals, some targets... or some of those famous "new year's resolutions", as they have now commonly come to be referred to and talked about at every New Year's bash. And these people are not usually shy about publicising them to the world either. Maybe it is an incentive for them, or a motivator to actually help them achieve those goals for the year. Or maybe in this day and age of social media, it is just a way to get yourself noticed. After all, "Would like to swim with dolphins!" or "Must visit every continent" or "Must master a new language this year" are goals or targets that are sure to catch people's attention, and to make them sit up and take notice.
In an era of the cell phone and gigabytes of data flowing through the airwaves by the second, it is easy to get lost in a crowd. Visiting an exotic destination or just doing something 'unique' is surely a way to distinguish yourself and make you get noticed in this overbearing crowd.
But then, there also maybe the case of using it as a motivation for yourself - after all, you don't want to be the loser at the end of the year who posted all those resolutions out there for the public to view, and when asked at the end of the year, "So, what did you achieve this year?"... the response is, "Ummm, you know, I had a really busy year and didn't get around to any of them actually!" Sucker!
But, hey, who's really counting, right? Especially 365 days later, when so much water has flowed under the bridge, who the hell is going to remember what you promised you would achieve at the beginning of the year... I mean unless you're Mark Zuckerberg and you have your own company and an entire team dedicated to publicizing your goals for the world to see (and capture you running around the most famous landmarks in the world), who really cares... or remembers.
I can ask my wife what my goals we discussed for last year were, and I am sure she wouldn't remember (I don't blame her... I had to look at my list in December last year to figure out what I had and had not achieved in 2016)... so, then how can I expect anyone else to. Unless, of course, I too, like Monsieur Zuckerberg hire my own entourage of followers to publicise my goals and how my achievement of them is going... but then again, who really cares?
So, then why do we do it? Like I said before, I think it is a way most people use to reset for the new year - it is a positive way to start a year, forgetting the past and building on something new. It is also a way to make yourself feel good... 365 days, what with the pressures of work, family, social engagements all adding up, can seem like a long time... breaking that monotony or really giving yourself some time and the satisfaction of achieving something is bound to make you feel good... and people like to... correction, want to, feel good.
With that said, I start every getting asked the question what my resolutions are. I often deflect the questions because being a private person, I prefer not to share them in public (or maybe just the shame of not achieving them is too much)... also, I prefer to view them as targets that may or may not be achieved in that year... so they can always be carrier forward... 'Well, that's not a resolution', I hear people say. And to that I respond, "it is my resolution to invest time in myself... to make myself happy... and it is a long-term resolution that isn't just achieved in 2016, 2017 or 2018... after all, who said that resolutions should only last for a year."
So, before you ask, for this year, my aim is to start the New Year investing time in myself, my health, my happiness.... And most importantly my family. And I know these are the goals that will sustain me for the next 365 days (well, less for this year now), and beyond.
So, what are your goals for this year?