In starting the year off with a bang, Mike Webber, a leadership speaker who speaks at colleges along the east coast, gave us advice on how to have a great year. Webber explained that even though everyone’s expectations of what constitutes a great year may be different, how to actually have a great year remains the same for everyone. In order to even be able to follow his five steps on how to have a great year, we all must think differently than we normally do. Webber asked, “If you could do anything, what would you choose to do?” With this question starting us off Webber’s five rules to having a great year are as follows: make choices to participate, build relationships, learn to work together, break the definition of what you are allowed to do, and plan strategically
The first step is to make the choice to participate in things. A lot of us get stuck in the rut where we want to try something but actually participating in it never happens.  Instead of saying “I think the paintball club sounds like fun, maybe I’ll try it next year”, go out there and actually participate in the club: who knows you may actually love it. The second step, building new relationships, is sometimes a difficult task for us. We all have that group of friends that we do everything with, but stepping outside of that comfort zone and doing things with new people is difficult. Instead, get out there and meet new people with different interests or people who you always see around campus but never knew their names. The third step, learning to work together, is one that is not only helpful now, but will help us out the rest of your life. Most of what we will do from now on involves working with others, whether working on a class project, together in the work place, or simply with friends to decide something fun to do that night. The fourth rule of breaking the definition of what you are allowed to do means thinking differently about something than you were before and trying new ideas to help you do something you thought you could not do. If there is something you have always wanted to try but have never found the time or a way to get it done, the way to go about this is to find new resources that could help you try. This may be new people, places, or even ideas. The final rule of strategic planning is to plan out our goals so that we do not let life get in the way. Normally we all start out with a goal, but then life gets in the way and things get overwhelming. In order to not give up, we need to go about setting these goals in a new way. Instead of saying “I’m going to do this by this date”, we need to set smaller tasks, time frames, and specific strategies that encompass the larger goal. If we follow these five simple rules, and proceed with an open mind and an open heart, this year could be the best one yet.