The summer holiday is upon us, and we really needed this downtime. Once you have regained your energy this is a great time for personal reflection and planning. Here are a few tips to help you begin the new year with a bang:
- Define your personal goals for 2023: Examine the roles that entail your life. We all fulfill many roles. We are leaders, employees, partners, parents, community member. Set one, 12-month goal for each role. Successfully achieving short-term goals will keep you motivated through difficult times due to positive reinforcement with small victories.
- Invest in your and your loved one’s mental health: The Coronavirus pandemic triggered a mental health pandemic that has touched all our lives. Do a mental health check, there are many validated online screening tools (www.masiviwe.org.za) if you screen positive reach out and get help. Help family members to do their own screening.
- Define your 2023 look: Give some thought to how you will present yourself in 2023. Your hair style, your grooming, personal dress code, and the personal brand you want to project. Now is the time to retyre the Covid casual wear.
- Reestablish lapsed relationships: Get in touch with the people you love and hear how they are doing; you never know who might be going through a difficult time. Make a quick phone call, a dinner appointment or even a simple text. Continue this trend throughout the year to make sure the relationships remain strong.
- Reflect on the previous year: Take time to review your year. Remember your accomplishments and be proud of them. Do not ignore the failures, they are always a learning opportunity. Take the time to also identify areas where you can improve in and focus on doing just that in the new year.
- Establish a work-life balance. The pandemic has shown us how fragile life is and how easily we neglect our personal life by prioritizing our work. You should be the priority. While away from the work define how you will set boundaries between these two worlds. Commit to a time to stop working every day and plan what you will do with the free time, start a hobby, schedule time to read and plan your breaks.
- Do a health check: This is very important, especially the older you get. Doing regular health checks will be vital in preventing a serious illness or disease from developing further.
FPD Staff Writer