Happy New Year, everyone! A new year and a new decade have begun and in line with the Law of Attraction, I can feel that 2010 is going to be an awesome year. As every year, great things will happen, as well as terrible things will happen in the world. In our personal lives, we will also face some unpleasant moments. Knowing that these moments will be inevitable, you can take some action to strengthen your immune system.

Traditionally, people list one or more new year’s resolutions; things they want to achieve or do in the new year, such as losing weight, quitting smoking, making that trip to a far away land or making a carreer move, for example. But research has shown that those resolutions are often not working out. Personally, I’d go for goals and plans instead!

Work on personal development

Growing yourself by spending time on personal development is likely to help you to deal with difficult situations easier.Knowing who you are, what you stand for, what your weak spots are and how to improve them, bringing stability in your life and live it healthy and consciously will build you the strenght to deal with challenges easier, and to put bad news into perspective.

Your PCP (Personal Crisis Plan)

The PCP is the crisis plan of your personal life, and relates to your inner circle. Companies often analyze their risks and try to prepare for any possible crisis scenario, so why wouldn’t you do that in your own life? Unless you would feel comfortable with it, I would not recommend to write it down, but to run the scenario in your head. Go through possible scenarios in your life; you get dumped by your boy- or girlfriend, a loved one dies, you lose your job, you fall ill. All scenarios no one is looking forward to, but they are likely to happen to all of us at some point in our lives. Look into all possible scenarios you consider relevant in your life and imagine how you would deal with it, and what it actually means. Obviously, there is no way to simulate the feeling of losing a loved one, for example, but it might help you to grow emotionally. Ask yourself that famous question in every scenario: What’s the worst that can happen? What are the consequences? How will it affect me? How can I deal with it?

Important note: Don’t spend too much time thinking about these scenarios. That could make you feel depressed, and that’s the least thing we want, don’t we?

Reduce your news consumption or change your perception

For sure, the year 2010 will bring us bad news on the world stage – your outer circle. Famous people will die, nature disasters will almost inevitably kill many, terrorist will strike and terrible, hidden acts of violence will reach the surface. Not the most optimistic vision of 2010, but realistically we can assume these things will happen – simply because they happen every year. A lot of people feel they have to be updated on the latest news nearly 24/7. If you are like that, you need to know one important thing about journalism: It’s by definition subjective, as journalists only select a small part of all available information to present to you, and bad news is more likely to make it through that selection than good news. Do not use the news to build a complete perception of what the world is like. A lot of good news happens, even as you read this, but it will never come under your attention. Reduce your news consumption if you feel it affects your mood, or pro-actively search for good-news stories!

Important note: I am not recommending you to close your eyes for the bad news that happens in our world, but to open up your eyes and ears to the good things that happen all the time!