Best of Ojeagbase

In less than 18 days from now, the New Year will be ushered in. It’s possible that you’re already thinking that it’s all over for this year. Talks of company closing down for the year is rife. Lots of people’s conversations centre on travelling and what they are going to do during the holiday.

For most of these folks, they are the ones who have had a good year. Their business volume is higher than last year’s and the size of their profits is double what they raked in, in the previous year. So, they’re perfectly in order to engage in such talks.

But you, my friend, are you in the same league with them? Did you meet your targets? Did you break new grounds in the course of the year? In what ways was your story different from last year’s? Did you relocate upwards in the outgoing year or you’re going to start again from where you were in January this year?

I’m asking you this question because unless you have a satisfactory answer to them, you are not entitled to join in the holiday talks. No, not yet. Yes, you’ll still go on break. You don’t have a choice there because everybody will shut down if not physically but mentally as we draw near the finishing line for 2009.

That is the nature of the season. We shall be filled with anticipation for the New Year. Just waiting for its arrival will be distractive enough to make it appear as if we are doing nothing.

But there are still many productive days left before that time comes. What you do between now and that time is what I want to talk to you about if I have your attention.

Ideally, you ought to have had your plans made by now. What you’re going to embark upon, as soon as the Happy New Year greetings subside, ought to have by now been written on paper and etched in your memory. The picture is supposed to be so clear to you that you shouldn’t have a problem describing it to yourself flawlessly without scratching your head wondering what you left out.

But never mind. You can still salvage the situation. Start by drawing out a performance sheet. Get a sheet of paper or, preferably, a notebook. Open a fresh page and start to write. What did you set out to do this year? List all of them.

Then, against each one, score yourself. Be fair. Don’t cheat. Remember, no one is going to see this paper. It’s for your eyes only. You may not know it; the people around you already have their own record of your performance.

They noticed when you switched from buying bread and beans for breakfast/lunch to eating lunch at the exclusive restaurant in the neighbourhood. And they know when you bought your Plasma TV to replace the old, beaten-up colour TV.

So don’t bother about them. Just be honest to yourself, knowing that if you produce a genuine performance sheet that reflects accurately how you fared this year, it will be a very good tool for you to improve your result against this time next year.

Okay, so now you know what to do. What did you score? Excellent? Good? Average? Poor? No matter what your score is, the result will still prove to be invaluable.

For example, let’s say you achieved all your goals and surpassed your targets. Congratulate yourself and pat yourself on the back. Really celebrate your success. Go out and buy yourself a gift. But be careful! Don’t over-do it.

Once you’ve given yourself a treat, settle down and try to figure out the things you did right that made that result possible. Propose in your heart to duplicate it and improve on it in the new year. You don’t need to change anything substantially. If it ain’t broke, as they say, don’t fix it.

If your score is good, that is not bad. It shows you have so much room for improvement. Go for it in the new year. Aim at improving your performance incrementally. Your goal is always to be better in the new year than in the previous one.

If your result is average or poor, don’t beat yourself in the head. There must be things you did that weren’t meant to be done. Or there are things you were meant to do that you didn’t do. Either way, you didn’t do as well as you thought you should.

Don’t allow the result to dampen your enthusiasm. All you need is to resolve that you won’t allow things to slip again. You can control that. Make sure that is exactly what you do.

So there you are. Get busy. Engage the remaining days in productive thinking. Create a clear picture of where you want to be this time next year. And then go for it. You can make it.

I wish you Merry Christmas and a more prosperous New Year.