New year, new goals…?
How often do you start a new year by making resolutions that you know you won’t adhere to for longer than a few weeks? Going to the gym, eating healthier, changing your lifestyle, etc — the list is endless.
Maybe it is time to ponder what our real resolutions should be. Over the past year I have been fortunate to meet a lot of great and interesting people, a number of who are at significant turning points in their lives, due to being made redundant or leaving jobs they hate to do something that they enjoy. It’s made me reflect on how easy it is to get carried away in life with what is expected from us as successful individuals — a house, family, high flying career….
How many of you have ever really taken the time to stop and reflect on what you really want in life, and the steps you need to proactively take to start your new journey?
Just before Christmas, I spotted an interesting article in the FT about a children’s attraction called Kidzania, where children get the opportunity to play at various jobs — fireman, pilot, surgeon, etc… there are about 60 different ‘jobs’ that children can role play to see what they love. What was interesting about the article was that in the run up to Christmas and to capture the office party market, Kidzania opened up their attraction to adults, giving many the opportunity to try ‘jobs’ that they would love to do. It’s apparently been very popular, however they also needed people to play estate agents, bank clerks and central bankers, but few wanted to do this…What does this say about what we do everyday to earn our living?
I applaud Kidzania for opening up a new market sector in providing adults with ersatz opportunities, and I think it’s a sad reflection of our lives if we are stuck doing something that we hate while we let other more interesting opportunities pass us by — I do appreciate that it is often due to circumstance, however I’m also a strong believer that if you define and articulate a clear goal and make a plan, you can pretty much do anything you want, as long as your age and health are not limiting factors.
You’re never too old to try something new — is 2017 your year to change your life’s course and head off in a new direction?
A while back I wrote an article on living by your values and how surprising it is to see how many people really are stuck doing something they hate, and this seems to reaffirm how people feel about their current status quo — well how about a new year’s resolution to make the first steps to changing this?
My goals in 2017 — keep enjoying life, meeting new people and more writing!
With planning and persistence, you too can make something different happen in your life….. what are you waiting for?
