As we come to the end of another year, we will inevitably review the events which affected our lives over the past year and begin to plan for the New Year.  It is a time to celebrate our achievements and set new goals, while coming to terms with the reasons for falling short of any targets we had set ourselves.

Did You Learn Anything New?
Did you set any specific objectives for 2005?  How successful were you in attaining them? Did you learn a new skill, acquire new information, or gain new insight into some aspect of your personality in 2005?  If you did, well done!  If not, 2006 is teaming with opportunities.  Find a way.

Re-Do Your Resume
You should always have a current resume on hand.  Spend a portion of your holidays re-vamping and up-dating your resume.  If you have nothing to add to your resume, make that an objective for 2006.  An opportunity may present itself when you least expect, and luck after all is opportunity multiplied by preparation.  Be prepared.

Clean Out Your Desk
Over the past year, your work area would have become the resting place for a number of papers that are no longer urgent, important or useful; take the time to clear them out.  Revisit, review, then file or discard.

Reviewing Your Personal Life
Because no-one on their death-bed ever says "I wish I had spent more time at the office", this is also a good time to review your personal life.  You should review your relationships - with parents, children, lovers, and friends.  Did you enjoy them, did you bring them joy?  Do they know what they mean to you?  Why not give a gift of yourself during the season.  Would your mother appreciate being invited to your house for dinner or lunch one day?  Would your father appreciate your doing a few errands for him?  Would a day in the country with you, their father and both sets of grandparents enrich your children's lives?  Take them.  Guardsman's Serenity Gardens is an excellent choice.  Would your spouse appreciate a quiet afternoon? Organize it. 

Get In Touch With Yourself
It is said that ‘if you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there’.  Too many people spend their later years regretting their `misspent youth'.  The word ‘unplanned’ should replace misspent.  Do you know what you want?  Do you know what is required of you to achieve your goal?  It is NOT going to fall into your lap. 

Did You Gain Weight This Year?
There was a time when the number on the scale was the most important number in a woman’s (and a man’s) life. Not so anymore. The numbers that mean the most to your health are those for your waist and hips.

The WHR is the relationship between the waist and the hip measurements. People tend to store fat in two distinct ways or shapes. Often called 'apple' and 'pear' shapes, these terms refer to the weight carried around your middle - 'apple' and around your hips - 'pear'.

If you carry more weight around the middle, this means you have more visceral fat. Visceral fat is more metabolically active than subcutaneous fat, and most of what it does is harmful to the body. Visceral fat:

• Decreases insulin sensitivity (making Diabetes more likely)
• Increases triglycerides
• Decreases levels of HDL cholesterol
• Creates more inflammation
• Raises blood pressure

All of this puts you at additional risk for heart disease. Visceral fat releases more of its free fatty acids into the blood stream, further increasing the risk of both diabetes and heart disease. The overall effect of excess visceral fat is that it creates a physical environment that is primed for heart disease, stroke, and greatly increases the risk for certain cancers such as breast and endometrial cancer.

The more abdominal fat, the greater the waist circumference, and the higher the WHR, the more dangerous the situation becomes.

A Simple Rule of Thumb                                      

If you need to lose a few pounds, make a plan and stick to it in 2006.

Plan Purposefully, Prepare Prayerfully, Proceed Positively And Pursue Persistently

If you apply this approach to all your goals - work-related and in your private life, you will succeed.  As you strive to improve your work and personal relationships for 2006 and beyond, take this with you:  "Give to others, and God will give to you.  Indeed, you will receive a full measure, a generous helping, poured into your hands - all that you can hold.  The measure you use for others is the one that God will use for you." Luke 6:38.

Dr. Semaj is a frequent facilitator for Strategic Planning Retreats, Cultural alignment and Organizational Restructuring. He conducts Staff Selection and Development Programmes for different business sectors across the Caribbean.