No more champagne; And the fireworks are through; Here we are, . . .; Feeling lost and feeling blue; It’s the end of the party; And the morning seems so grey; So unlike yesterday; Now’s the time for us to say; Happy New Year . . .; Happy New Year; May we all have our hopes, our will to try; If we don’t we might as well lay down and die . . .”

If you need reminding, these are the opening verses of the 1980 ABBA hit song from the album Super Trouper. The song’s working title was Daddy don’t get drunk on Christmas Day.

Trivia aside, 2023 is the year of the Water Rabbit, which, in Chinese culture, is a year symbolising longevity, peace and prosperity. But the currently perilous and fragile economic state of the world calls into question the possibility of us attaining peace and prosperity in 2023. Will the longevity be in the socioeconomic challenges?

Quite concerningly, 2023 is predicted to be a year of hope. The concern with the word ‘hope’ is that in common English usage ‘hope’ is understood to be a weak word that conveys desire rather than expectation. So, we are hoping for a desired state. Could it be a case of hoping against hoping? The word can also represent wishful thinking. If you are of the glass-half-full persuasion, then you might side with Albert Einstein, who said: “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.”

Have you been wondering what the year holds, and thought about how to confront it and its challenges? In other words, do you have a plan? You should place, at the heart of your plan, the Serenity Prayer: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

When putting your plan together, you might want to consider suggestions from a blog titled ʻ11 things to plan for the year ahead’, from https://energyresourcing.com. 1. Plan your professional and personal year separately. 2. Review the past year. 3. Make a plan for the year ahead, and then develop your SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) goals. 4. Create your not-to-do-list, which is not only about getting rid of the tasks you do not want to do, but also those that prevent you from achieving greater productivity. Identifying which tasks should be delegated will allow you to be more efficient. 5. Establish a routine. Think about big quarterly events and schedule those in too. 6. Set time for yourself. If it helps, “pencil it in”. You can always move your plans; you just cannot cancel them. You have vacation for a reason – use it. 7. Work on a side project. Side projects help you learn new techniques and skills that you may otherwise never learn in your daily job. Your side project should not always be optimised for efficiency and output. Not everything meaningful can be measured. Your plan for the year ahead should include things that you do for sheer enjoyment. 8. Commit to celebrating the wins, no matter how small. Every step is an achievement that will help you on your way to reaching your goals for the year. 9. Make sure to leave yourself space in your well- organised plan for the year ahead. 10. Adjust your attitude. Remind yourself every day that your attitude determines everything. Remind yourself that, while you cannot control the outcome of your year, you can control how you react. 11. Allow for flexibility, as a plan is only a good as your ability to understand that things happen outside our control.

Best of luck for 2023. But stick to your plan.