“Thinking is the hardest work there is” says Henry Ford “which is probably the reason why so few engage in it.” Lazy thinking is at the root of all unfulfilled lives especially at the beginning of the year. Just four weeks ago, I am facilitating a change management class that quickly turns into a career discussion. “Does any of us have a career plan for 2025-2035”, I ask. Oh Lord! Did I communicate in Portuguese? No one responds because know one has a plan in the class. Most people live year in year out exercising lazy thinking yet expecting a better year ahead.
New Year’s day draw out levels of imagination that one is shocked at having. We cannot get the big plan out
of our minds. We expect to start on a new slate. We remember tales of the the past year 2024. The truth is that the New Year brings its own glory that causes us to believe. It is compares to travelling to a dream destination where no weaknesses prevails. Only strengths win.
Most people start off the year in prayer, the fun lovers flock hotels with multi coloured fireworks displays.
Congregants shout; everyone shouts; you are greeted by strangers wishing you a happy new year. The sounds and sights of the night seem different from any other night.
As morning comes, one realizes there are two breeds of new year celebrants: those who thought long before the new year and those going through the motions.No one sits quite so relaxedly, expertly, beatifically as a New Year celebrant; he sits with every inch of his body; his very face sits. He sits as if he inherited the art from generations of Jews. Nothing he likes better than to invite you for lunch later that day: a few polite inquiries about your plans for the day precede the asking.
Come the second of January the celebrant starts fasting declared by his church while he waits out the holidays to end on the ninth day. Such should never be your life. In 2025 you will win or lose based on your mind. In the way firm foundations hold buildings, so does your mind. Foundations for 2025 are about your thoughts and strategies. It is what happens in your mind that makes you interesting. It is how you express what happens in your mind that makes you interesting. It is what you cause to happen in the mind of a listener that makes you interesting.
Your mind is your playground. Your mind is your garden. You play as you wish. You grow what you wish. Just as an impresario puts on a stage show so you are the impresario of what goes on in your mind. There is a huge difference between the mind and a camera. The camera just records passively what is placed in front of it. The human mind does very much more than record passively what is in front of it. Past experience is called upon; emotions, feelings and values are tapped; speculations and possibilities are opened up. It is the ‘richness’ of all this activity that is the source of ‘interest’.
2025 is here. Have you taken time to think through your aspirations, alliances, dreams and your calling? If not take off time to do so or DM me. Happy New Year!
