My 365 Day Plan

I am not a big fan of New Years resolutions. Don't get me wrong, I think the intent is commendable but what I do have an issue with the clarity of the goals. For example: One may say I want to lose weight in the following year. It doesn't mean anything unless you put a quantifiable target to measure your transformation.

How many kilos do you plan to lose? By when? Is your purpose strong enough to make it happen?

I know different people define success and happiness in different ways while scientifically it is a cocktail of dopamine, oxycontin, serotonin, and endorphins which translates to our complex emotional stability.

Having said that, the clock resets itself at Midnight and we are offered a fresh slate to start anew. Change can happen in an instant.

I know if I put it down, I will have to commit to it and therefore have broken it into 10 priorities. These are marginal gains but the 'whole will be be greater than the sum of its parts.'

1) Positively Impact 1095 people (Average 3 a day) by 11:59pm, 31st December 2020.

2) Go vegetarian (2 days a week) by the March 2020. For two reasons: One is to live healthier, two is I realize that I cannot be selectively empathetic over cruelty to animals when my appetite for livestock makes me a contributor to their predicament.

3) Run 5km under 20 minutes. I actually set this target unofficially in 2019, and I did get close bringing the clock down to 22 minutes but this year I will work hard to shave off those elusive 2 minutes.

4) Social Media - To have a browsing free window between 5pm and 10pm every day. Only important voice calls can be taken during this time so that I am not distracted when I have 'home' time.

5) To read 24 books for the year (2 new books a month)

6) War on Sugar

- Reduce my 3 tea spoons of sugar to 2 spoons for my morning cuppa

- Completely stop my casual bottle of Coca Cola and stick with water and fresh juice

7) Alcohol - Completely stop hard liquor with exception to a beer. (Reason is that it offers me nothing but a hangover and a change of mindset. (Which at times can be careless and irresponsible) Sports gives me the mindset without the hangover - but that's just the way I look at it)

8) Visit the Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Poland. This has been something on my bucket list ever since I started watching World War 2 movies and reading literature. Not my ideal holiday destination but I feel the visit can offer me so much perspective on life.

9) Put that extra 10% in everything I do, whether it is at work, or with family or with anything I am involved in. My favorite quote in relation to this is "Don't stop when you are tired, stop when you are done."

10) Go into every engagement with the intention of winning. I know that the general principle in life is that you lose more than you win..but I will take on everything that comes my way with that winning mentality.

..These are marginal goals but I do believe when clarity meets your conviction, and when you apply action to the equation, your world will transform before your eyes.