A New Year, A Better Tomorrow

As the clock strikes 12 on December 31, people all over the world will be cheering and wishing each other a happy New Year. For some people, the new year simply means a new calendar or a major hangover from too much celebrating. But for others, including most business leaders, the new year symbolizes a clean slate and the prospects of a better tomorrow.

I’d like to spread happiness with the following collection of well-known and lesser-known (penned by my own hand) New Year’s toasts and wishes: 
 

Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each New Year find you a better man.
   —Benjamin Franklin

Wouldn’t it be great if we didn’t have to have classes and seminars on business ethics and ethical behavior, but just listened to our consciences? What if we all practiced the Golden Rule? Can you envision a more peaceful world if we utilized an arsenal of diplomacy as big as our arsenal of weapons? And imagine what it would be like if we’d love our neighbors as we love ourselves!

May your right hand always be stretched out in friendship, never in want.
   —an Irish toast

Say, wouldn’t it be nice if greed wasn’t so pervasive in our society? What if we could redefine success in new terms to include measurements such as a healthy psyche, strong personal values, and being a family man or woman? How impressive it would be if companies embraced the notion of true philanthropy. 

For last year’s words belong to last year’s language, and next year’s words await another voice. 
   —T. S. Eliot

Let’s all try to use a new vocabulary focused on “we” and “us” instead of “I” and “me” in the new year. Wouldn’t the world be a better place if we were less judgmental? It would be illuminating for all people if those in the spotlight (such as radio personality Don Imus) understood the full impact of their hurtful and disrespectful comments. Picture how wonderful it would be if we taught our children the meaning of one simple word: respect.



God bless us, every one!
   —Tiny Tim in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol

I wish for a world that exploits similarities rather than differences. I wonder what business could accomplish if we’d close the gap between high-paid CEOs and the salaries they pay their labor. Wouldn’t it be good if all employees who contributed to the good fortunes of shareholders would be rewarded, instead of a select few? Imagine what a huge difference we’d make if those of us who have been especially blessed shared our good fortune with those less fortunate—because it’s the right thing to do.

Each age has deemed the newborn year the fittest time for festal cheer.
   —Sir Walter Scott

Can you visualize a more cheerful world of nurturing and growing relationships with our spouses, our children, our parents, our employees, and with other nations? And on a less serious note, wouldn’t we be extremely cheerful if the Minnesota Vikings and Gophers could both find the formula for success?