7 Ways To Make 2024 The Best Year Yet!

7 Ways To Make 2024

The Best Year Yet!

by Jan Pitts

Learn To Say No!

Saying “yes” when your better judgment dictates a “no” sets you up as a victim and often damages the very best of friendships. All of us have, on occasion, been caught in a position where we said “yes” but logically should have said “no.” At those times, your failure to say “no” left you feeling awful.  Alleviate these stressful scenarios by learning to say with a smile.  A “no” with a smile may not be what the person wants to hear, but it’s your honest response and must be respected as such. Is there a better way to go about it? NO!

Don’t Allow Yourself To Feel Guilty About Anything!

 Some people are so perforated with guilt because they haven’t learned that the fundamental method of handling guilt is simply this attitude: “What’s done is done.” Don’t wallow in it. Don’t lose sleep over it. Don’t keep pondering it in your mind. If it’s relevant to make apologies to whomever it is you have wronged, then do so and get on with life. In case of a faux pas, a protocol error, or even a genuine mistake, face your infallibility and deal with your humanness. Whatever else you do, don’t allow guilt to bog you down. Guilt is one of life’s heaviest burdens, so shake it off and keep moving. Life goes on.

Learn To Be A Good Listener And Attract Others To You

There are definite steps to learning to listen effectively. Be open and receptive to what is being said. Put aside your own daydreams and concentrate on what the person is saying as if it were the most important thing you could hear at the moment.  Instead of trying to read your own meaning into what the person is saying, help the person convey his message by showing interest.  Resist the temptation to interrupt, but when it is proper, ask questions to clarify your understanding of what has been said.  Be patient.  Wait for your turn to speak.  Improving your listening skills not only improves the depth at which you listen, but it actually improves your effectiveness as a communicator, and it draws others to you. Share Yourself!

Share your time.

Give of yourself. Volunteer your services at a neighborhood soup kitchen. Seek to find out how you can be of assistance to the elderly, the homeless, orphans, and children who just need a role model.  Reach out.  Believe it or not, you are under obligation to do so.  Let your loved ones know how you feel…by word and by deed.  Give love at work, remember birthdays, send thank you cards, call and cheer someone’s day.

 Plan For The Future

• Work hard, so you can earn the right to play hard.
• Make plans for fun things weeks in advance.
• Squeeze life like a fruit and enjoy its nectar!  Never allow a day to be a duldrum day.
• Save your money.  Stop spending it all.  Have something to fall back on if you need to.
• Use your best of everything at any time.
• Don’t save something to be used only for “special company” or out of town guests or for some vague special occasion.  Use your best stuff now while you can.  Drink juice out of your crystal and use your china for your tea or coffee today!

Brave Up!

Develop courage in your dealing with others.  Complain about your cleaning bill and/or the bad service you received.  Try something you’ve never tried before.  Don’t be afraid to venture into the unknown.  Make 2020 your most daring year.

 Follow Your Dream

Make this year that you really buckle down and pursue that dream.  If you don’t have a dream, get one.  Sit down and think about what you really want to do, or where you really want to go and do it!