Happy 2014! Every new year feels like a fresh start again. We think about the past year, about the lessons we’ve learned, and have good intentions for the new year. It’s often a switch of habits, like now I’m starting to eat healthy, to quit smoking, to be kind to my colleagues, to start sporting, etc. I’ve often started the new year with celebrations, fireworks and hugging everyone. And some hours later I woke up with a hangover! The freshness is gone, and the good intentions too, partly. This year I took a different approach.
During my youth I had a fresh start a couple of times. That was when I switched schools, when I started at university, when I switched the study and when I started to work in the music business. The new environment with people I didn’t know gave me the chance to re-invent myself, and to consider what kind of people I would like to know.
Recently I read an article that 50% of your character are formed by the 5 people you are most close with. When you can’t choose your family or neighbors, you do have the ability to choose your friends. In this article it was about choosing winners, so you will become a winner yourself. To be honest, other aspects are far more important to me in life than winning. So I use different criteria when choosing my friends. I want to discuss idea’s, have great conversations, feel connected, share experiences, enjoy their company.
I started this year sober, enjoying the fireworks of the neighbors, got a good night sleep, and enjoyed the first day. Instead of good intentions, I started to set goals, including changing habits. One of the goals is, to keep the good condition I’m in by sporting at least twice a week. I don’t have to plan what days. Goals give me a direction to act with life as it happens, to be flexible enough, and to start all over again when I forgot about it for a week.
The advantage is, that you can start fresh every day again!