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New Year

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Welcome to 2017. Hope it’s a beaut for you and yours.

Always a curious thing how the New Year’s so full of good intentions. Never any shortage, it seems, of resolutions, ambitions and promises as the calendar ticks over to mark another 365-day orbit around the Sun.

After the turmoil of 2016, expectations of something better will be running high.

Personally, my resolution is to make sure I don’t become a celebrity, not that there’s much danger of that happening.

How many beloved celebrities shuffled off the mortal coil last year? It must have been a nerve-wracking year to be a celeb.

Check out the list: David Bowie, Robin Williams, Prince, Muhammad Ali, Leonard Cohen, Gene Wilder, Glenn Frey, George Martin, Arnold Palmer, Keith Emerson, Ronnie Corbett, Merle Haggard, Leon Russell … and there were plenty more.

Even pretty Carol Brady, Florence Henderson, fell off the perch.

So I’m planning to fly under the radar, stay well away from TV reality shows and avoid X Factor auditions. I’ll be putting music recording on hold and my best-selling book plans under the bed.

I’m even tempted to stop answering the phone ‘I wake up with Today’ but, hey, I could use the bucks.

One thing I can’t avoid at the start of each New Year, though, is a couple of predictions. It’s a bit of a bad habit, given so many of them fail to materialise. But for reasons I’m a bit scared to analyse I persist.

So here goes: 10 tips for 2017.

  1. Bill Shorten replaced as Federal Opposition leader by Anthony Albanese.
  2. Donald Trump savaged over insider trading profiteering after the markets soared on the back of his passive election speech.
  3. Stock market shock as Wikileaks revealed economic figures and forecasts doctored by Chinese government.
  4. Revived avian flu scare after several species of migratory birds across Pacific Rim are found infected.
  5. IS forces decimated in Syria by US/Russian coalition.
  6. Kanye West jailed on ice charges.
  7. Essendon footballer Jobe Watson wins Brownlow Medal, but forfeits due to report.
  8. One Nation MP Pauline Hanson successfully sues ABC for defamation.
  9. Former Geelong mayor Darryn Lyons signs on for Virgin flight into space.
  10. Angelina Jolie marries Johnny Depp in shock rebound pairing after recent divorces for both.

Sorry about that but I’m glad it’s out of my system. A Happy New Year to you, and all the best in 2017.

 

PS: What do you think of this blog post? Email me @ info@noelmurphy.com.au.

Christmas

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Christmas, for some people, is a bit like nostalgia — it’s not what it used to be.

If you’re not surrounded by kids, especially young kids, it can be a little empty. It’s not hard for some people to find Christmas too commercial. After all, it’s been going on for a couple of months now.

No doubt it’s hard work. Negotiating the Yuletide campaign of office parties, client knees-ups, annual get-togethers and family gatherings can mean a solid workout for the liver and waistline.

But planning and managing kids’ presents, dinners, barbecues and backyard cricket matches is fun. Especially if you approach it all the right way, with a touch of creativity. It’s good for the soul.

Of course, all this busyness can mean your eye is a little off the ball with your business and your clients. It doesn’t have to be that way.

Not if you share a little Christmas largesse with them.

Want to throw a Christmas party? Sure. But make sure everyone’s free to get there, and help get them home too. They’ll love you for it.

Too expensive? Don’t fuss. Everyone knows business is doing it pretty tough right now. But remember, it’s the thought that counts.

A lucky dip of kids’ toys for your workers to take home might be the thing. Maybe you could try something a bit different; like a whip-around for clothes, toys and foodstuffs you can donate to charity.

Christmas cards to your clients, dancing elf videos of your staff with thank-you and Merry Chrissie messages, or just a straight-up emails, texts, Facebook posts or Tweets … make sure you do something to  engage with your most important asset — your people — at Christmas.

From this bloke’s perspective, Christmas is another year older. That’s the joy of being born on December 25.

And yep, birthdays are a bit like nostalgia, too — they’re not what they used to be.

 

PS: What do you think of this blog post? Email me @ info@noelmurphy.com.au.

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