The Pragmatist View to New Year
A pragmatist like myself would tell you there is nothing different from a new year and an old year. Merely a slight change in the numbers we see on our calendar.
Practically, there is nothing new about a new year. The weather would have been the same as the previous day (year), the size of your bank account would be the same, and the size of your ego would be the same.
And if you are a procrastinator, the size of your excuses would be the same or even considerably bigger. LOL
Being humans and having relatives and friends who believe that the new year is some kind of special season, it is difficult to detach yourself totally from this mentality, this frame of mind. There is nothing explicitly wrong with it though, nothing wrong with thinking the New Year is special and bodes something nice and promising for you. But it becomes a joke when you think those good things are just going to magically happen without your effort. I have come to realise that the only thing that would truly usher a new and different year, is a right change of approach to things, which means putting in the effort and doing things differently, positively, being forward and upward.
The New Year starts with a lot of drinking, eating and celebrating for a lot of people and sadly, the higher percentage of those who think something is magically going to happen for the good are amongst this "lot of people".
You want the New Year to be actually new and different? Yeah? So what have you done? Willing to do? And doing about it?
Don’t get me started with the "new year resolution" bandwagon. LOL. Those ones are laughable, why? Because almost all of them fall off the damned wagon by the second week of January. LOL. Am I right or am I right?
Well, luckily for those band-wagoners, the New Year offers everybody some kind of soft landing. Everybody seems to feel some kind of way towards January, some kind of bias. Your boss is more likely to fire you in any other month for bad conduct than in January. Your landlord is likely to give you some kind of grace for unpaid rent in January than any other month...For these special grace that January bestows upon everybody, only a few take due advantage of it and those are the people I call realists. I am not talking about the New Year resolution people. LOL.
I am talking about those who know about the New Year resolution people and their disposition, who also know about the new year bias and use all of them to their advantage. LOL
So, I think I have made my point now if you can dig. Now, what do you want for the New Year? What do you think you deserve? What do you think you are due? You have a chance to go at it, you have been presented with a new, clean slate. Would you be sincere and use it to your advantage or are you going to jump on and off the New Year resolution bandwagon and finish the year like a loser? I bet you wouldn’t want that. Nobody would want that, but what everybody wants, few people actually work towards achieving.
So where are you going to be setting up your tent? With the WORKERS or the WISHERS? LOL
Do you want a better income?
Better physical shape?
Better circle of friends?
All-round better outlook?
We all want better everything, but if better is easy, everyone would have better and be better. Being better means setting goals and crushing them, setting up tasks and completing them. Better means not giving up when it isn’t going well. Better means having that warrior mentality. Yeah, that warrior mentality, never say die attitude...if you want all these, I could point you in the right direction. But, all I can do is point you, you are going to have to carry your damn cross by yourself. Ain't nobody sharing the glory with you when you have finally become the better you. LOL
1. Read Books
There is a popular saying that goes thus - readers are leaders. That is one of the truest things that has ever been said. What is your reading culture like? Do you even read? I am not talking about reading to pass an exam, that isn’t reading per se, that’s merely memorizing. I mean reading to be a better human being, reading to fill your subconscious with conscious information and data.
There are gold buried in books, you have to read up to dig up, there are unique potentials buried in you, you have to read up to unravel some of them. Reading makes you smarter, a better a thinker, a rational decision-maker, you can learn how to master your emotions from reading certain books, you learn how to make financial decisions, how to make remove emotions from certain decisions. What else can I say? Reading makes you twice as tall, elevates you from the level of average to a unique giant.
Now, a lot of people either do not have the reading culture or are just can't be bothered. Well, if you know the true value of filling your mind with all kinds of workable information, I am sure you would be bothered. I am gonna suggest some books that would get you started, help you develop the reading culture and immerse you into the reading pool. It doesn't matter how busy you think your day gets, give reading at least 2 hours of your time every day and watch yourself blossom.
· Marcus Aurelius – Meditations
It is such a wonder that the life of this Ancient Roman Emperor resonates with our century, our world as if time hasn’t passed. Reading up on Marcus’s Meditations and all his stoical philosophies would very much help rewire your brain and help you maximise your time and resources as well as productivity and end result. You would sure learn how to remove excesses from your daily living. Read and imbibe.
· See also The Daily Stoic – Ryan Holiday. This one is also so relatable you might think it is your life under the microscope. Read and become a better you.
· Susan Cain - Quiet
This book would hit home better if you are an introverted personality and think you don’t belong or if you find yourself feeling inadequate, shy or timid. Susan Cain broke it all down here and if you think you might never reach your full potential because you are not loud and about, reading Quiet would help you unravel your true potential.
· Mark Manson – The Subtle Art of not giving a fuck
This book lets bare the one thing that is holding some people back from reaching their true potential and that one thing is – giving a fuck about what people would say.
The book isn’t saying you should turn to a prime sociopath, no, far from it. It is basically going to help rewire your brain and help you live your life, not caring what people might think about your decisions, about how you look, about how you walk or how you chose to spend your time and money. The book is actually telling you to live your life for you, unhinged and to the best of your ability. Do not let what people might think influence or affect your life and decisions.
These above, are some of the books that would get you started for the year and if you are serious about them, they certainly would lead you to other books of same value. Get your reading culture activated, be more informed this New Year than you ever were in the past years.
2. Spend less time in front of the screens.
If one of your New Year resolutions is being productive and maximizing time and resources then spending time watching TV and scrolling non-stop through social media is simply not going to help your cause. The screens are some of the biggest and most addictive time wasters known to mankind because there is always going to be something new to watch on the TV or to see on social media. Get hold of your life and turn that screen off, quit social media if you sincerely know it has negative effects on you. Social media can be utilized as a great tool of learning but you have to be conscious about it, about learning. Do you log in to Twitter, Facebook and IG to get the latest gist and celebrity ramblings or do you login to learn something productive from some of the best business and investment handles? To keep up with that programming handle? With that book club handle? You see, social media can either the death of you or the saviour of dwindling life. Choose wisely.
3. Workout and eat healthily.
Nothing conditions you better towards being a better you than reading, exercise and healthy diet and we have already talked about Reading.
Studies have shown that many ailments that have bedevilled mankind can be tracked down to lack of exercise and poor diet. From Obesity and Cancer to lack of confidence and low self-esteem, we would actually be dealing with a lot fewer terminal ailments if we exercised and ate healthy food.
Let one of your new age resolutions be to exercise and eat better. Exercise doesn’t have to be fancy; it just needs to be conscious and sincere. You can walk for an hour every day; you can develop an indoor workout regimen for yourself, a regimen of squats and pushups. These kinds of workout don’t need any facilities or any equipment; here you have all the tools you need – your own body weight.
Workout, take good care of your body and watch your confidence and self-esteem soar through the roof. This certainly would affect all aspects of your life positively, from your sex life, interpersonal relationships to your long terms decision makings.
Eating junk and processed food has become the bane of human existence. Living in an age where time is a scarce resource has surely affected us in a largely unforeseen way. We want to eat on the go, no time to waste, so we eat meat from chicken pumped with growth chemicals, prepared with chemicals that make them taste better and warmed up (microwave) with the technology that cooks them in a matter of minutes, sometimes seconds.
We replace water with fluids that are practically bad for our organs, and it doesn't help that the advert companies paint these products so good that you’d never think you are literally poisoning your own system gradually. Have you ever heard of Zero Coke or Diet Coke? They look and taste the same as your everyday Coca Cola drink but they are supposed to have Zero Sugar? So what’s in it that makes it so sweet, same as the normal coke? Advert and marketing, that’s your answer, and people are falling for it.
Learn to cook for yourself, make it your new age goal in case you don't know how to cook. Learn to cook and cook your own food, appreciate nature more and replace “juice” and other flavoured drinks with water. If you want to drink fruit juice, extract them yourself from the fruits and drink. Do you want smoothies? Make them yourselves...
4. Learn an Internet Skill
If one of your new age resolutions is to earn better pay, then you need to learn the skills that would make you that money. We are in an age where technology is paving way for mind-blowing human and societal growth, are you going to take advantage or are just going to sit on the sidelines and mope? The potential on the internet is so limitless, it’s actually crazy. You can make millions from the comfort of your home without having to talk to or see another human’s face, and the good news is, you can learn all these things free of charge right there on the internet. All you need is a phone/laptop, data, time, discipline and willpower. There are countless opportunities for you on the internet, you could learn...
Coding & Programming
Copywriting
Forex & Binary Options
Crypto-trading (BTC, BCH, ETH etc)
Affiliate marketing
Blogging
Let these marinate a bit, read and make your new year worthwhile, do your own thing and be better. Get off the bandwagon and get to work. We could well continue this article because there is so much to be said about taking advantage of the New Year.
