As the year winds up, a tradition for the majority of people is to set a goal for the coming year. Some people already have these goals in mind, but many others still need to think through what goals would make sense for them in the coming year. For those who had plans already mapped out and those who are yet to find out what would make the coming year an awesome and fulfilling one, here are the six most important things consider:
Personality/Character: Your personality is your complex attributes which include your behavioral, temperamental, emotional and mental qualities. They are features that define you. Your personality characterizes your uniqueness and distinguishes you from the rest of the people. Personality/character development should be on your list for the coming year. Your vision and passion motivates you toward the type of personality desire to have. How much you invest in building your character and growing your vision determines how far your growth would be come next year. Character development is often the most forgotten resolution item but very important to anyone success in life. Billy Graham said, “When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost.” Character affects your relationships and your growth. How you handle complaints, criticism, rejection, confrontation, people and money is would be the height of the character you have developed. Good businesses have good customer service. Character failure can result in career failure. This applies to politics, sports, financial and entertainment industries. Do not make room for carelessness for the coming year.
Finance/Money: Finance is a good guess to be everyone’s priority for next year. Meanwhile, financial intelligence is the most important thing to consider in wealth building. It does not matter how much you have now, how much you desire to earn the coming year or the job you want to switch to in order to make it big. What’s important are your management plans. Money is no one’s permanent friend. Money is often a promiscuous agent. It has no particular lover. It does not enjoy the romance of wasteful spenders and does last long in their hands. Money enjoys the company of those who have built channels for it and people who has the manners that impresses it to relax and take some rest. Otherwise, it comes and goes. If you are looking forward to building your finances for the coming year or save for retirement, educate yourself and seek advice on budgeting, debt management (for those in debt), credit and collections, savings and investing, buying home or renting, buying a car or riding the bus, saving for college (for aspiring student or career change) and so on.
Relationship/Association: The friends you keep have a way of affecting your growth. It can either influence you positively or negatively. Identify people who are travelling in the same direction as you and develop a good relationship with them if you desire to grow in the coming year. Associating with people of the same mind and goal keeps you focus and helps you rebuild your strength especially when experiencing hard times in your endeavors. They stand a better chance to help and support you. As the saying goes, “Birds of a feather flock together.” If an athlete keeps company with musicians, it is almost a guarantee that he or she may end up a singer or drummer. I am not saying that a writer should not have a Chef as a friend but how much time they spend and what they spend it on are the things that count. Spending time on things that fire up your passion and energizes your dreams should be on your list if you wish to grow.
Family/Kids: This is mostly for those who are married, single parents or those aspiring to be parents. They have growing responsibilities which they have to consider and plan for in their New Year resolutions. Ignoring the impact that family would have on one’s resolution is like making a snowball in the oven. Child care, education, discipline and safety can affect the family budget. This is why emergency savings that would account for unplanned outcomes is very important. Spending time with family is very important and when not properly scheduled can affect the parents and the children negatively. Expecting a baby, getting married or paying for your child’s education can cost you more than what you have planned for. For the safety of the family, you may be required to take extra steps to achieve this—ensuring there is adequate and safe shelter, adequate healthy food, safe transit, and so on. Fix what is needed to be fixed at home—stairway, patio, electrical etc.
Health and well-being: Anyone is bound to fail in any personal pursuit when health fails. The only exception to this is when one is not directly involved or does insignificant role in his or her project. Good health and healthy living should be in your resolution list if you are sure you want to achieve them. Make plan for your health. A health care plan that include would take care of your physical, intellectual and spiritual well-being. Notice the three divisions—the physical, the intellectual and spiritual. The physical plan takes care of your body. This can be achieved through healthy nutrition, exercise, good sleep and any other recreational activity that keeps the body in good shape. Next is to take care of your soul. Your soul houses your mind, emotion and will. Some of the sicknesses people suffer are illness handed down to their physical body from inner part of their beings. Dr. David Schwartz, in his book: ‘The Magic of thinking Big’, says that over 80 percent of our hospital beds are filled with people with “EII” or Emotional Induced Illness. You can take care of your soul by listening and reading motivational and inspirational material, thinking positive thoughts and taking positive actions. Your spirit houses your conscience, intuition and communion. You take care of your spiritual self through worship, prayer, scriptural study, meditation and positive confession. Taking care of your intellectual and spiritual life helps you build the capacity to respond positively to the experiences of life even sufferings. Kevin Huggins said, “Our response to suffering shapes our character and determines our psychological and spiritual health.” To stay healthy, you need to develop your capacity to deal with negative experiences and influences of life.
Work/Business/career: Your work or career provides you with the resources you need for the upkeep of your life in terms of money. How you handle your work, business or career determines how much you will generate to cater for your plans. For any to down play the importance of his job or career is to down play on their success in the nearest future. This is why it is necessary for everyone to upgrade themselves. Failure to upgrade is an opportunity to be outdated. Plan to do things differently in order to prevent stress and burnout. Invest in your career; grow your business; expand and diversify your vision. Globalization is the right word. Forget about the past. Reach forward for what the New Year holds for you. Begin it with positive mentality and embrace it with a positive attitude. Ensure you produce an amazing result next year. See you at the top!
Personality/Character: Your personality is your complex attributes which include your behavioral, temperamental, emotional and mental qualities. They are features that define you. Your personality characterizes your uniqueness and distinguishes you from the rest of the people. Personality/character development should be on your list for the coming year. Your vision and passion motivates you toward the type of personality desire to have. How much you invest in building your character and growing your vision determines how far your growth would be come next year. Character development is often the most forgotten resolution item but very important to anyone success in life. Billy Graham said, “When wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost.” Character affects your relationships and your growth. How you handle complaints, criticism, rejection, confrontation, people and money is would be the height of the character you have developed. Good businesses have good customer service. Character failure can result in career failure. This applies to politics, sports, financial and entertainment industries. Do not make room for carelessness for the coming year.
Finance/Money: Finance is a good guess to be everyone’s priority for next year. Meanwhile, financial intelligence is the most important thing to consider in wealth building. It does not matter how much you have now, how much you desire to earn the coming year or the job you want to switch to in order to make it big. What’s important are your management plans. Money is no one’s permanent friend. Money is often a promiscuous agent. It has no particular lover. It does not enjoy the romance of wasteful spenders and does last long in their hands. Money enjoys the company of those who have built channels for it and people who has the manners that impresses it to relax and take some rest. Otherwise, it comes and goes. If you are looking forward to building your finances for the coming year or save for retirement, educate yourself and seek advice on budgeting, debt management (for those in debt), credit and collections, savings and investing, buying home or renting, buying a car or riding the bus, saving for college (for aspiring student or career change) and so on.
Relationship/Association: The friends you keep have a way of affecting your growth. It can either influence you positively or negatively. Identify people who are travelling in the same direction as you and develop a good relationship with them if you desire to grow in the coming year. Associating with people of the same mind and goal keeps you focus and helps you rebuild your strength especially when experiencing hard times in your endeavors. They stand a better chance to help and support you. As the saying goes, “Birds of a feather flock together.” If an athlete keeps company with musicians, it is almost a guarantee that he or she may end up a singer or drummer. I am not saying that a writer should not have a Chef as a friend but how much time they spend and what they spend it on are the things that count. Spending time on things that fire up your passion and energizes your dreams should be on your list if you wish to grow.
Family/Kids: This is mostly for those who are married, single parents or those aspiring to be parents. They have growing responsibilities which they have to consider and plan for in their New Year resolutions. Ignoring the impact that family would have on one’s resolution is like making a snowball in the oven. Child care, education, discipline and safety can affect the family budget. This is why emergency savings that would account for unplanned outcomes is very important. Spending time with family is very important and when not properly scheduled can affect the parents and the children negatively. Expecting a baby, getting married or paying for your child’s education can cost you more than what you have planned for. For the safety of the family, you may be required to take extra steps to achieve this—ensuring there is adequate and safe shelter, adequate healthy food, safe transit, and so on. Fix what is needed to be fixed at home—stairway, patio, electrical etc.
Health and well-being: Anyone is bound to fail in any personal pursuit when health fails. The only exception to this is when one is not directly involved or does insignificant role in his or her project. Good health and healthy living should be in your resolution list if you are sure you want to achieve them. Make plan for your health. A health care plan that include would take care of your physical, intellectual and spiritual well-being. Notice the three divisions—the physical, the intellectual and spiritual. The physical plan takes care of your body. This can be achieved through healthy nutrition, exercise, good sleep and any other recreational activity that keeps the body in good shape. Next is to take care of your soul. Your soul houses your mind, emotion and will. Some of the sicknesses people suffer are illness handed down to their physical body from inner part of their beings. Dr. David Schwartz, in his book: ‘The Magic of thinking Big’, says that over 80 percent of our hospital beds are filled with people with “EII” or Emotional Induced Illness. You can take care of your soul by listening and reading motivational and inspirational material, thinking positive thoughts and taking positive actions. Your spirit houses your conscience, intuition and communion. You take care of your spiritual self through worship, prayer, scriptural study, meditation and positive confession. Taking care of your intellectual and spiritual life helps you build the capacity to respond positively to the experiences of life even sufferings. Kevin Huggins said, “Our response to suffering shapes our character and determines our psychological and spiritual health.” To stay healthy, you need to develop your capacity to deal with negative experiences and influences of life.
Work/Business/career: Your work or career provides you with the resources you need for the upkeep of your life in terms of money. How you handle your work, business or career determines how much you will generate to cater for your plans. For any to down play the importance of his job or career is to down play on their success in the nearest future. This is why it is necessary for everyone to upgrade themselves. Failure to upgrade is an opportunity to be outdated. Plan to do things differently in order to prevent stress and burnout. Invest in your career; grow your business; expand and diversify your vision. Globalization is the right word. Forget about the past. Reach forward for what the New Year holds for you. Begin it with positive mentality and embrace it with a positive attitude. Ensure you produce an amazing result next year. See you at the top!
Elisha O. Ogbonna is the author of "Mastering the Power of Your Emotions" an educative and instructive book on how you can control what happens in your irrespective of what happens to you. He is a motivational and public speaker.
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