Rick’s Report – Bad Timing of New Year Calls for a Second Start

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By Rick Hiduk

When I was still a kid in school, I loved the years when Christmas and New Year’s Day fell on Wednesdays, simply because it usually meant an extended holiday break. Never a big fan of school, I relished the extra time to play with my toys and, in later years, play and read about music.

As an adult, however, holidays that fall in the middle of the week are a pain in the butt. They inhibit work flow when you are involved in publishing or any other “weekly” business and have to get your product on the newsstands in a timely manner. Either the product suffers, or you feel cheated by having to cut your celebrating short going into or out of the holiday.

Last week, not only did the New Year begin on a Wednesday, it was followed by a snowstorm and bitter cold that altered work schedules and prevented those kids who were supposed to return to school from going.

Even though U2’s Bono sang so many years ago that “nothing changes on New Year’s Day,” I think that most of us hope that it does. We hope for greater prosperity, stronger relationships, better health, less calamities, and fewer obstructions to true happiness.

January 1 and the days that followed simply did not feel like a new year. By the time those of us in the northeastern United States could get back on the roads to go anywhere, another weekend was upon us. It’s tough maintaining forward momentum when everything and everyone around seems to be gearing down and you can’t really put any plans into action.

That’s why I think it’s reasonable to suggest that anybody who shares my opinion that this year got off to a sluggish start deserves another chance. Let’s reboot 2014. Take some time today to look back over 2013 one more time, reassess that which didn’t go as planned and perhaps even redefine your resolutions. You’ve had four days to give them a try. Are they realistic, or are you already uncertain that you can pull them off?

I make fewer resolution every year. I already eat healthy. I respect and actively enjoy nature. I stay in touch with the family members and friends who matter to me most. And I exercise almost every day.

The only two resolutions that I could come up with as of New Year’s Eve were to drink less beer in 2014 and to never ever again let myself settle into a work environment that is so caustic that it negatively affects the way I think about other people.

Since last Wednesday, I only drank beer one night. I drank rum, gin, and wine the other three nights, so I’m obviously not achieving my true goal of drinking less alcohol overall and giving my liver a break.

I look at tomorrow, Monday, January 6, as the real first day of the new year – the beginning of an uninterrupted five-day work week that is quickly filling up with meetings and interviews that are likely to lead to lucrative endeavors.

The holiday stretch was, by and large, relaxing and enjoyable. But I am more than ready to come out of the gate running tomorrow and making 2014 the best that it can be. And the best part is, with the hubbub of the holidays behind us, I don’t have to wait until midnight tonight to wish all of my readers a Happy New New Year!

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