Ah, new years’ resolutions. These are by far the biggest scams in self-motivation history. We aim for the best things in life, especially at the start of each year because we sucked the previous year… Go ahead and blame it on everyone, but most often than not, it’s all on you.
But of course, we feel refreshed, sober and up for any challenge that might come our way ahead, so why not aim big. Lol. Bring it on!
For most, we are looking for opportunities in jobs, education and business, however, we have not been approaching our new years’ or in better words, ‘resolutions’ in the best possible way according to me.
From opinion and personal experience, I’ve seen the best years and the worst years, and they all were good or bad based on my performance the previous year and in this article, I share the importance of knowing how to approach a new year.
So… how do we do this?
We plant seeds.
In one interview at the Ultra Music Fest with Black Coffee, he mentioned how everything he did in the past was just a game of planting seeds.
Where is Black Coffee now? Yep!
This for me is a key differentiator if you’re about to approach any year or anything for that matter and looking to make a killer impact.
The philosophy is simple.
Plant the previous year, sow the next. Repeat!
How do we plant? It’s simple, put in the work. I have written heavily on this in The Paradox of Prosperity (Which you can read or download here) and it’s so scary how simple and effective it is.
“Umair explains — The Paradox of Prosperity: “The paradox of prosperity is this. Imagine a lush field that goes fallow. The tribes begin fighting over the last few dried, cracked stalks of wheat. They fight one another tooth and nail. Until, at last, one is victorious. The field is theirs; but there is no longer any wheat; just handfuls of dust. The others starve. They will do anything for the dust. Until one day, a man says: “Why, the dust! It is rightly ours! Let us take it from them!” And so they do. And the spiral of violence and impoverishment never ends. “
A lot of opportunities are passing us by because we are not ready, instead we’re out and about looking for handouts, for the clock to strike midnight and offer us a miracle.
To break down what Umair points out, the concept suggests that it is in the time of lacking, in times of despair and uncertainty that we need to plant the seeds of plenty. It is in the time where darkness surrounds us that we need to plant, build more fields and plant even more in hopes that the light will shine through.
So, if you’ve been looking to have a great year, you must put in the work, and plant seeds.
If your efforts for your year is to get hired, it makes sense then to not only equip yourself with the relevant skills for your job but also, to stay ready.
The same goes with school – you can’t expect an easy ride without putting in the work.
Business too; if you’ve been looking to close deals and sales this year, you well know you should have been marketing and pitching last year.
All of these will determine how your year will unfold, but a lot of us are not planting but just looking to sow, so what? Who’s lush fields?
Forget about the sowing too, it just so happens automatically. I don’t recall having a great year without having to pushed myself the previous year. Everything is a result of hard labour that was put in the year or many before.
So, if you had a rough year, plant now, do not expect anything, next year will be better.
If you had a great year, plant even more!
Peace & love!
Editor: Boipelo Maetla
