Happy New Year

Hope you had a safe and wonderful festive season.

Are you back in the swing of things yet?

It seems hard to get back into the full routine of the year with sales in the stores, children on holidays and summer in the southern hemisphere. It is easier to go slow - ease back into the year and decide on some arbitrary date to gets things to happen.

One of the things I have noticed over the last ten years or so is that the Christmas-New Year break has got shorter in Australia. Factories and many services used to close for most of December and January. In fact, when I was working in industries and making on-site appointments there was very little to do until the end of January. Not any more.

The world is busy. All nations are competing for the same markets and customers. We have a global economy so our individual trends and behaviours are merging with the dominant (or most profitable) work styles.

So, how do you maintain your individuality? Remember what is important to you, and what it is that you truly enjoy doing. Find out where your skills lie and develop them further. And then, just for the mental stimulation, learn something new. This keeps the mind young and maintains interest in life.