This year introduced a celebrated opportunity to pause and view life in a different way. Happy New Year!

Here are some tips to focus on the future effectively, generated from a wide array of self-help books.

• Avoid being entitled – The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson

Manson warns that there are two types of entitlement; feeling like the world owes you for no reason doing things for people and expecting things back because of it.

• Step out of your comfort zone – Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes

Rhimes documents the year she spent doing everything she was asked to after she realised that she had been closed off to life due to fear of the unknown.

Also read: This year, celebrate reading as a superpower

• Do not rely on external validation – What a Time to be Alone by Chidera Eggerue

Eggerue preaches the power of self-acceptance and the personal freedom which comes with being your own source of validation.

• Malicious gossip may reveal a deep level of dissatisfaction with yourself – Women Don’t Owe You Pretty by Florence Given

To speak maliciously about others has no benefit to a person with healthy self-esteem. Happy people understand that direct communication is more beneficial than gossip which goes nowhere and benefits nobody.

• Self-mastery is more than having a good attitude – The 5am Club by Robin Sharma

To optimise your performance, you must attend to your mind, body, soul and emotional health consistently.

Use the above tips to help guide your focus on the future as opposed to the past, which has come and gone.

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Related article: The reading brain