I suppose you too want to have a fruitful 2013! Everyone does. There are thousands of articles online advising people how to live better lives in 2013: eat well, exercise, read and, of course, stop procrastinating. And other stuff to do.
The meteoric rise of websites and blogs that advise people how to be happy, more productive and stay focused on goals have made it difficult to find online what’s really useful.
So how to go about it?
As I was reading articles on life’s fulfillment and productivity for my new year, I came across two very interesting articles that make a lot more sense than the usual ‘20 things you must do in 2013 to be productive and achieve your goals’ that you would normally find on the internet, which most probably include finding time to laugh on the top of the list.
The two articles are well thought out and argued but most importantly they meet the criteria of the principle of putting first things first.
The first article rebukes my own assumptions I had before reading it: That happiness might come from achieving my goals and reaching my targets in 2013! The article, published in the Atlantic magazine under the title There Is More To Life Than Being Happy, clearly distinguishes between happiness (a short-term life enjoyment) and life’s meaning (a long-term and deeper understanding of your place in the universe and why you are where you are). Having read Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search For Meaning twice helped me understand the point even clearer. The book is also on WYA core reading list.
The second article, Tis the Season To Be Planning… A Different Approach to Goals and The New Year by Andreas Widmer, a WYA board member and author of a recent book that I had the chance to read, is more practical and also meets the criteria of the first things first principle. It lays out questions you need to ask yourself to be a better you in 2013.
I hope you find both these articles enjoyable and helpful, as I did.
Obadias Ndaba is President of World Youth Alliance.
