The Lunar New Year which is typically the second new moon after the winter solstice, started February 16th. This is different than the solar new year, which started January 1. Habit makes us want to map something unfamiliar to something we know. Which is why people unfamiliar with this start to look at me as if I am speaking a foreign language as they try to make sense of why the lunar new year occurs on different days, depending on the year. I struggled with algebra the first month; I thought I was losing my mind. I could not seem to remember the value of “x.” It took a while to understand the concept of “solving for x” and that x was unknown.
Often, new things don’t have a one to one mapping. You miss new functions and features when you take something new and focus on how to make it do something old. This is very apparent with devices, some users have basic functionality while others it seems, have a totally different device. Making this transition requires thinking about what you need to do, rather than what you used to do.
As we welcome the year of the dog, what are the things you are holding on to the way you used to do? How can you look at work and life with a new perspective for the new year?
Balancing on Unstable Surfaces 