New Year and all that
‘Happy New Year to you’
That is a statement fit only for a CEO to blurt out in one of those strategy meetings. ‘Let’s target to be the number one provider of Dog food by so and so year’, the CEO says leaving the rest of the team to wonder how in the hell they are going to meet that objective. How do we go about being number one in the market? What does it mean at a ground level? The CEO can never bother about that and that’s the reason the rest of us have our jobs. We need to work out the details ourselves. We need to constantly remind ourselves that the target is to be number one and therefore that mindset needs to reflect in all of our thoughts, behaviors, discussions, decisions and actions. The CEO visualizes and depends on the rest of the team to actualize the vision. There are posters pasted all around the office proclaiming the vision and serving us the reminder day in and day out. We see that every day and we are expected to work accordingly. At the end of the period for which the vision held good, the whole company rejoices at the success - or analyses the result to see if trying to be number one at least got the company to a level that is reasonably better than where it was. If it is, then it is good for all. “We just need to work some more before we become number one”, the CEO says.
New Year wishes are like that. It is not as if New Year is going to pass in one moment [Actually it does. Hopefully that is not what people mean when they say ‘new’ year]. It is then broken down into months, weeks, days, hours, seconds, milliseconds, moments and so on. How do we then break down the wishes into the details? How do we ensure that the happiness is built ground up leading to a ‘Happy Year’ at the end of it? Why is not someone wishing us happiness every moment so we are constantly reminded that there are so many people in this world who wish to see us happy, not just on an average for the year but actually every moment of it. No one ever wishes ‘Happy new moment’ and I wonder why?
Well, obviously, people cannot wish each other every moment – they will risk doing just that for the rest of their lives. So they wish us once, December 31st is just incidental, and then leave it to us to remember for the rest of the time that we need to break down the wishes into the ground level details. Consciously or otherwise, our well wishers are visualizing our end state for the coming 365 days. They leave it to us to actualize the vision. The only issue is there are no posters pasted around us to keep reminding that the objective is to be ‘Happy’.
So we forget. We let our thoughts, behaviors, discussions, decisions and actions to wander – not in any particular direction. At the end of the period for which the vision held good, we look back and feel sad that the time has passed without us being happy. And then the reminders come pouring all over again. We wonder if the wishes are sincere at all. How come those wishes never come true, we wonder.
While we appreciate the CEO being hands off once he spells out the vision and take the onus on us to actualize his vision, we fail to take the onus for our own happiness. We appreciate the wishes and stop there. Unlike at work, there is no support staff in life to carry posters wherever we go. And so we forget.
What’s the solution then? I guess the posters have to be in the mind and may be wishing each other at every opportunity could help affirm it more. Either way, as we embark upon the next month, week, day, minute, second and moment it is up to us to keep looking at the poster in our minds that says ‘Be Happy’ and then have the mindset that reflects the vision in our thoughts, behaviors, discussions, decisions and actions. And then at the end of the period, we can see if we have achieved the complete happiness or a level that is reasonably better that where we were a year ago.
Here then, wishing us all a very happy next moment!
Niren
That is a statement fit only for a CEO to blurt out in one of those strategy meetings. ‘Let’s target to be the number one provider of Dog food by so and so year’, the CEO says leaving the rest of the team to wonder how in the hell they are going to meet that objective. How do we go about being number one in the market? What does it mean at a ground level? The CEO can never bother about that and that’s the reason the rest of us have our jobs. We need to work out the details ourselves. We need to constantly remind ourselves that the target is to be number one and therefore that mindset needs to reflect in all of our thoughts, behaviors, discussions, decisions and actions. The CEO visualizes and depends on the rest of the team to actualize the vision. There are posters pasted all around the office proclaiming the vision and serving us the reminder day in and day out. We see that every day and we are expected to work accordingly. At the end of the period for which the vision held good, the whole company rejoices at the success - or analyses the result to see if trying to be number one at least got the company to a level that is reasonably better than where it was. If it is, then it is good for all. “We just need to work some more before we become number one”, the CEO says.
New Year wishes are like that. It is not as if New Year is going to pass in one moment [Actually it does. Hopefully that is not what people mean when they say ‘new’ year]. It is then broken down into months, weeks, days, hours, seconds, milliseconds, moments and so on. How do we then break down the wishes into the details? How do we ensure that the happiness is built ground up leading to a ‘Happy Year’ at the end of it? Why is not someone wishing us happiness every moment so we are constantly reminded that there are so many people in this world who wish to see us happy, not just on an average for the year but actually every moment of it. No one ever wishes ‘Happy new moment’ and I wonder why?
Well, obviously, people cannot wish each other every moment – they will risk doing just that for the rest of their lives. So they wish us once, December 31st is just incidental, and then leave it to us to remember for the rest of the time that we need to break down the wishes into the ground level details. Consciously or otherwise, our well wishers are visualizing our end state for the coming 365 days. They leave it to us to actualize the vision. The only issue is there are no posters pasted around us to keep reminding that the objective is to be ‘Happy’.
So we forget. We let our thoughts, behaviors, discussions, decisions and actions to wander – not in any particular direction. At the end of the period for which the vision held good, we look back and feel sad that the time has passed without us being happy. And then the reminders come pouring all over again. We wonder if the wishes are sincere at all. How come those wishes never come true, we wonder.
While we appreciate the CEO being hands off once he spells out the vision and take the onus on us to actualize his vision, we fail to take the onus for our own happiness. We appreciate the wishes and stop there. Unlike at work, there is no support staff in life to carry posters wherever we go. And so we forget.
What’s the solution then? I guess the posters have to be in the mind and may be wishing each other at every opportunity could help affirm it more. Either way, as we embark upon the next month, week, day, minute, second and moment it is up to us to keep looking at the poster in our minds that says ‘Be Happy’ and then have the mindset that reflects the vision in our thoughts, behaviors, discussions, decisions and actions. And then at the end of the period, we can see if we have achieved the complete happiness or a level that is reasonably better that where we were a year ago.
Here then, wishing us all a very happy next moment!
Niren
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