“May he grant you the desires of your heart and make all your plans succeed”. – Psalm 20:4
The end of a year is timely to monitor the performance of our achievements of the year against our objectives. It is an opportune time to set realistic targets for the year ahead and an excellent time to commit to working smarter towards the benefits of holistic prosperity and happiness.
As spiritual beings attempt to master the human (body and mind) experience on earth, there are eight challenges with which we are faced in order to achieve these benefits:
(1) Business Success – It is a wise practice to pursue some type of entrepreneurial activity to boost our income or as a hedge against losing our job and the possible negative impact on our family income. This individual focus on business success strengthens our families, fortifies our communities and builds sustainable national economies.
(2) Emotional Well-being – The power of positive thinking is our greatest emotional asset. Good relationships, ambition, self confidence and emotional security fuel emotional well-being. Negative emotions such as anger, fear, worry, hate and guilt are destructive factors and we must learn to manage them well.
(3) New Ideas – In my own experience over the past 20 years, I am amazed at the quantity of high quality ideas which emerge from potential entrepreneurs. Innovation is the key to success so keep those ideas coming.
(4) Earning capacity – At all stages of life we need to have access to money to cover the budget for ourselves and family. Initially we earn income to cover our basic needs and as we advance in life we seek to increase our income to keep up with inflation and our growing needs and wants.
(5) Financial Comfort – We plan through savings and investment to provide for that period in our lives when we are not able to earn as before. Our initial earning capacity strategy is therefore paramount for our ultimate financial comfort.
(6) Intellectual Stimulation – Continually feeding our brains with new data, information and knowledge helps us to gradually advance along the discovery spectrum, ultimately traversing through insight and understanding to wisdom. The Information Age through the likes of smart phones and tablets facilitates this intellectual stimulation process.
(7) Total Physical Fitness – The widely used Latin phrase “Mens sana in corpore sano” translated as “a healthy mind in a healthy body” is very relevant here. The five practices, which will lead to total physical fitness, are good nutrition, frequent exercise, adequate sleep, regular touching and peace of mind (no stress).
(8) Spiritual Upliftment – Our relationship with God is paramount to our overall well being. Regular prayer is the way in which we communicate with God. Meditation puts us in the frame of mind to listen to the answers so that we shall be spiritually uplifted according to his will.
Let us collectively pursue our business, emotional, financial, intellectual, physical and spiritual health on the journey to achieve comprehensive prosperity in the New Year. The light is now green, let us commit to addressing the challenges above.
Happy New Year 2018.