It’s 2020: the start of a New Year, and the dawn of a fresh decade. Let’s be honest here: a variety of strange and bizarre happenings occurred over the course of the 2010’s. Frankly, it’s hardly surprising that we all feel the need to hit the reset button, and prepare ourselves for the coming year. Let’s take a moment to step back and assess our current situation, whether it’s in our personal life or in our work-life. After all, the start of a new decade is by far the best time to do it.
Think about what you were doing this time last year or even three, four years ago and what your younger self wanted to achieve in that coming year. Did you achieve it? Do you even want the same things that you did then? What’s changed in your life since then that’s meant your focus has had to shift? Are you happy with the trajectory of your life? Okay, they’re all massive, fundamental questions that are essentially impossible to answer in a simple way, but as time is ticking along, it’s time to reassess - are you content, and if not, what are you going to do about it?
Harsh, I know, but assessing how far you’ve come and where you’re heading are essential parts of ensuring you’re on a path that you’re happy with. Maybe you’ve had a bad year and need to turn your luck around, perhaps you’ve just been coasting along with no set plan, or maybe you’re content with your life and you just want to figure out what’s next for you. This is why we should all hit the reset button in 2020. It’s a chance to refocus on what really matters and what our intentions are going forward.
Now, hitting the reset button doesn’t mean that you have to make a drastic change like quitting your job and moving to a commune in the Himalayas (I mean, it could if you wanted), it could just be a reflection period where you reaffirm your goals and ambitions and return to them with a renewed sense of purpose. Conversely, it’s a great time to make those bigger changes that you’ve been putting off. Perhaps you’ve been wanting to slow down and improve your work/life balance - there’s no better time than the start of the year to do so - ask your manager if there are more flexible working options, or vow to turn off your work phone once you’re offsite. Or maybe you’ve been saying you’ll learn a new skill for a couple of years but have never found the time - find the time this year.
There’s a beautiful symmetry that comes with starting a new year, and a new decade, with a renewed outlook on your life, goals and ambitions. It’s the perfect time both to look back and reflect, and to focus on the future and how you’re going to achieve the life that you want to have. How you do that is up to you, but by having reinvigorated yourself for the future, your chances of succeeding just went through the roof.
