At the mention of new year, the most likely word to come to mind is “resolutions”. We mostly believe that, since its the beginning of the year we can start everything afresh. It makes it easier remembering when last you did some or when you started doing something new. Lets say its good for accounting purposes.
Some say the day is meaningless in astrology, I mean 1 January. The Catholic calendar and most African traditionalists, I think, ended the year before 31st December. The traditional months are actually just twenty-eight days long. Anyway we are stuck with the Gregorian calendar so the assumption is, its all true.
The Plan
Myself for instance, started with a few resolutions of my own; read a book a week, learn a new programming language and build a project with it by September , pray and meditate more and learn a new language. Those are at the core of self improvement “curriculum”, if I may say.
I plan doing this by downloading a soft copy of every book I buy so I can read while in a taxi or trotro or something. I downloaded more podcasts on language learning “warum nicht” and good songs for meditation.
My twitter feed had to get better. I spend a lot of time on Twitter so I unfollowed some people and followed people who were experts in areas I wanted to improve in. Like following Paulo Coelho, Python Foundation, some Python experts and some control systems engineers. So even when I am messing up I can learn some sense off twitter.
More importantly, I unfollowed a lot of political accounts. I confirmed last year that politics in Ghana is chiefly based on tribal lines and common financial interests. There’s nothing “for the people” in our form of democracy, may be the leftovers from the dinning table.
Something can always be done about it unless you are dead, obviously.
So Far?
So far it hasn’t been easy. I wont lie. Adapting to new routine isn’t always easy. But what keeps me going? I set reminders on tasks I plan to work on within a day. I plan my day before I get out of bed so I don’t waste the 12 hours I have. Its not that I don’t know the difference between 24 and 8. I sleep more than 8 hours in a day. Siesta and stuff.
If you have fallen behind on yours, it is never too late. There are 11 months more. You can always make things right. “The Alchemist” a book my brother Kofi Agyemang recommended, had that message somewhere in it. Never ever think nothing can be done about a situation. We would say in internet terms, no situation is cast. Something can always be done about it unless you are dead, obviously.
It would be important to share your resolutions with someone. Someone who can hold you accountable. A human being you respect, I think. You can visit the person each quarter of the year to run over the points and see how best you can alter and align with the resolutions for the year, especially the financial ones. Read about the power of compounding and apply it to your life.
“That’s what Alchemists do. they show that, when we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too” – The Alchemist, Paulo Coelho.
