The Mirror's Health , Lifestyle and Fashion
Reimagine!
For this reason, hardly do you hear of people talking about how good, brilliant or interesting life has been in a particular year. Instead, many are quick to remember the times when inflation chopped a penny or two off their savings because they couldn’t afford that routine service, or how a lost member of the family made them “lose hair” because it was so painful.
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They hardly talk about the little blessings and favour that they enjoyed over the period. No wonder that even in schools, teachers are quick to mark a pupil down because he or she got one or two answers wrong, instead of focusing on the ones that were right.
Reimagining is about creativity, it is about looking at things in a different way with the aim of achieving a better result. So, if you think 2022 has not brought about your desired effect, what are you going to do about it in the year ahead? Do you need any clues here?
Okay, let me offer one: Clue number one is that in your attempt to answer this question you should not apply the same methods that you have used in 2022, if you want to change things!
So, my direct answer is that you must get into some form of creative thinking, brainstorming and coming up with multiple perspectives. You can examine and analyse each perspective against your expected outcome.
To put it in the right context, let me go back to the October 29 edition of this column. In that edition, the headline was “Dare to Dream”, and the import was to explain how focus, knowledge and attitude help achieve results.
“I am talking about the basic things that can move you a notch up, yet you are refusing to take up those opportunities because you don’t want to disturb your comfort zone.
Okay, let me ask you this question: have you ever refused to even make a contribution in team meetings because you are afraid to make mistakes? Or, do you refuse public speaking engagements because your knees buckle even before you reach the podium whenever you tried to? You are not alone, if you answered in the affirmative, so feel the fear but do it anyway.
Note that speaking up in meetings, and contributing to discussions, for instance, would enhance your reputation at work, your professional and personal life”, was how I partly explained the importance of dreaming big.
I am sure you also know that yesterday’s success is no guarantee of success today or tomorrow because the passage of time always changes the rules of the game. If so, why do you think that yesterday’s failure will define your future?
Of course it would if you do not reinvent yourself and become abreast with new developments at all times. Don’t be blindsided in 2023. Get yourself involved in some future-pacing exercises and you will soon realise the opportunities that lie hidden in this beautiful world.
Now, let’s do a future-pacing exercise, similar to what l explained in the July 30 edition of this column. Here we go! Just imagine something that you think it is possible for you to do in 2023. How would you feel if this task was fully achieved in 2023?
For example, if you are into sales (I guess we all are because day in, day out, we have to pitch an idea or concept even in ordinary conversations), you can picture using your own product and how good it would feel to receive the benefits of using the product.
This shouldn’t be tasking. You can just grab a plain sheet of paper (it doesn’t matter the size) and in the middle of this sheet of paper, just write down your big idea. Now, you can create little circles around this idea, listing what you need to become the “you” that you want to see in 2023.
See the obstacles so identified as areas for development. Today, thanks to technology, you can learn a whole lot online to improve that area that needs further development. Last few weeks, for example, l read a story published in a lifestyle magazine about how a beautician was able to use videos on YouTube and other free online learning resources to build skills to become a sought after make-up artist. It was quite remarkable.
If your job involves selling, you can learn how to pitch your product online. So too is improving your public speaking or creative writing skills. At the click of those buttons on your laptop or other digital devices, you could find a store of knowledge for your personal development.
As l stated in the July 30 edition, sometimes you just have to imagine and do it. Anytime you see something nice that you like, you must also note that for that product or service to be developed in the first place, someone had to think about it and make it happen.
Those with ideas and willing to also exploit them make things happen. They are the defining people in our generation or were the defining people in the past generation. You have what it takes to rise above the challenges of 2022.
Next year make it happen! Subject yourself to continuous professional development as disruptive innovations have challenged existing paradigms and offered new possibilities that were previously unimaginable.
Two decades ago, the technology for self-driving cars was not as advanced as it is now. Now we are close. In 2023, there should be something new in your life!