Slacker Manager

5 Keys to a Happy New Year

by David Zinger on September 1st, 2007

September 1, 2007

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Before you think I have become date-disoriented take the next 2 minutes to think outside of the calendar.

I know, you normally think of New Year’s Day being January 1st. According to the calendar it is January 1st but if you go to school, you teach school, have had a long summer vacation, many of the other employees have been away for parts of July and August, or you have a hard time getting back into full steam in September, I encourage you to make today your New Year’s Day.

Take advantage of thinking outside the calendar and begin this month with a fresh approach to work, fitness, exercise, or relationships. You can then use January 1st., in 4 months, to revise or enhance your September resolutions.

Here are 5 tips to help you with your New Year:

1. Recognize and celebrate the past 12 month’s accomplishments, experiences, relationships, and milestones. Engage others in your celebration.
2. Develop fresh and fetching goals for the coming year. Take 3 steps on these goals starting today. Read Lisa Haneberg’s Two Weeks To A Breakthrough or her breakthrough blog to zoom towards your goals in the next 2 weeks: (1) Share your goals with others. (2) Take action to support and achieve your goal. (3) Make requests that will help you move towards your goal.
3. Go beyond a Happy New Year to an Authentic Happy New Year. Achieve higher levels of authentic happiness by focusing on your strengths - know your strengths, apply your strengths and use your strengths in the service of others (See David Zinger’s Strength Based Leadership blog for more tips).
4. Determine who you would like to connect with this year or who you would like to foster a stronger connection with this year - reach out and touch somebody or Never Eat Lunch Alone!
5. Start lifehacking into a powerful New Year by reading and applying at least 1 lifehack every week. Visit lifehack.org to read and apply hacks, tips and tricks that get things done quickly by automating, increasing productivity and organizing. This insightful site provides news and articles which enable you to get things done faster as a slacker.

What do you think? Are you ready, willing, and able to make September 1 the start of your New Year or have you already been doing this? I was talking with quite a few people on August 31 and I encountered 2 other people who thought of September 1st as New Year’s Day and one other person who was celebrating August 31st as New Year’s Eve.

If you think of September 1st as the start of a New Year leave a comment as I am curious if many other people think this way too. You can even wish us a Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to you and as my friend and fellow Slacker Manager Phil Gerbyshak declares: MAKE IT GREAT!

David Zinger

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