Even though we’re still in the first half of December, I’ve been thinking about the New Year. I have mixed feelings about the approach of 2025. The political landscape is almost certain to be chaotic and I believe society will unfortunately follow suit with that chaos. It will be difficult to wall off that celebrated idiocy, and it’s going to take a lot of personal bandwidth to maintain a one’s sanity in this environment. I’m prepared to handle these circumstances, and the primary driver for that will be by being the calm one in the room.
This has not always been my strong suit.
I was recently listening to “The Daily Stoic” podcast by Ryan Holiday. He was discussing New Year’s Resolutions with author James Clear, and during the conversation he mentioned to James that he focuses on a word to define the New Year. It’s a short little reminder of his area of focus for the year. I like this approach and I’m going to try it out.
There’s one word that seems to fit my mindset at the moment. I don’t know if it’ll be the “word of the 2025” for my approach to life, but it’s in the short list of contenders for the chore. The word is determination.
As life moves forward and the folks around us do their thing, it’s important that we concentrate on “our thing”. Focus on that we can control. The stuff we can’t control? Let it do what it’s going to do and if it’s going to affect us in some way, be determined to let that effect be a positive effect.
2025 is going to take a lot of determination. I’ll be ready for it.
