Well, it’s that time of year once more, the time that we look back at the highs and lows of the year past and make our plans for the year yet to come.
Over the past few days I have received numerous newsletters and read many blog posts that focus on the importance of setting goals for the year ahead. This is good advice. I know from bitter experience that with no destination in mind and no map to follow, then it is highly likely that we will just go round in circles and end up right back where we started, having achieved little or nothing along the way.
The best blog post I have seen on the subject of planning for the year ahead was written by John Thornhill and if you are looking for some sound advice to help you achieve your goals then read it here. I will certainly be using John’s guidelines to help me get to where I want to be by the end of 2009.
Having said all that, and while I most definitely agree that the start of a new year is a good time to take stock and make plans, my own inclination is that maybe the focus on “new year, new start” is a little too strong.
Why? Well, let’s look at what happens with one of the popular New Year Resolutions: quitting smoking. As always, there will be many people lighting up their ‘very last cigarette’ at 11.50 on New Years Eve, and they’ll start the following day full of good intentions to never smoke again. And, of course, some people will succeed. But there are many others who just do not have the willpower to overcome the cravings and they’ll be smoking again by the end of the month. And having broken their resolution, they’ll give up on it until they try again next year.
Therein lies the problem. By their very nature, New Year Resolutions can only be made at New Year. So if you blow it early on, that’s the end of it until next year. It’s a good excuse not to immediately get back on track and try again. And it’s easy to treat your business goals in the same way. You decide now where you want to be by the end of the year, then somewhere along the way your plans derail and you just give up and resolve to try again next year, thus squandering what is left of the current year.
By all means, set your goals and make your plans now for the year ahead. But remember, a new year starts every single day. It may not be a year that starts neatly on January 1st and ends on December 31st. But no matter what date it starts, a year is still 365 days (yes, I know, except in a leap year, let’s not split hairs!) so if things go wrong, make the necessary adjustments and keep going. And if it’s a total disaster, make new plans. Don’t wait until December 31st to pick yourself up, dust yourself down and start all over again. Time is our most precious resource and once it’s gone it can never be replaced. Don’t waste it.
I will be moving house early in the new year so I am going to be busy packing and unpacking. And it’s likely that in mid-January I will be several days without an internet connection, so my plans are going to be on hold for a couple of weeks.
However, things should be back to normal by the beginning of February, then we’ll be back with lots of ideas about what to sell on eBay, plus we’ll be looking at ways to create multiple streams of income to help us through the looming recession.
In the meantime, we here at Online Auction Ideas wish all readers a very happy, healthy and successful New Year!
