Tomorrow sees the start of the Chinese Year of the Dragon, believed to be the most auspicious year in the calendar, with red and gold as the auspicious colours for the New Year. They are also great shorthand to think about how we approach the coming year and what it may hold for us, both at work and in our personal lives.
R - Rewards Even in a difficult economic climate, we all hope for some rewards for our hard work, whether financial or personal, and we may need to be quite determined in order to achieve them
E – Expectations However well we plan our activities we may also have expectations of support or assistance from other people and we hope not to be disappointed by them
D – Dreams It is still OK to dream. It gives us the impetus to drive for something currently out of reach, to envisage a place where all the effort comes together. Without dreams we will not thrive.
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G – Goals We all need to set goals for ourselves. It is important to know what we want to achieve, perhaps daily, weekly, monthly, for this year or maybe for the next 5 years
O – Organisation Once our goals are set, it is imperative to be as organised as possible, ensuring our work-life balance does not tip over in either direction, planning our workload, managing our time, to be as efficient and effective as possible
L – Learning Every day should be a school day. We should take a couple of moments at the end of each day or perhaps catch up with ourselves at the end of each week, to reflect on what has happened, what we have learned. It might be something factual or something about ourselves or our business or the people around us. The benefit is in the reflection and how we deal with what we have learned
D – Development We all need to continue to develop, to find ways to continue to take the new stuff on board and to be ready for tomorrow. Whether it is how to use a new piece of kit, reading an article or embarking on a qualification, it all counts and standing still is not an option.
So, if it all starts to feel a little overwhelming, just remember RED & GOLD to give yourself a boost and keep going. Here’s hoping for a glorious Year of the Dragon for all of us!
