2016: What can we do to make this year delightful?

May 2016 prove to be your very best year yet. What would make this year delightful for you? What can we do to make this year delightful?

Gentle reader: It hopefully will not have escaped your attention that a new year is upon us. Here’s my tweeted picture of the first sunrise of 2016:

I would like to take this opportunity to wish nothing but love, health and happiness for you and yours this brand-new year. So what are you most looking forward to or hoping for from this newest of years? What would it take to make 2016 your very best year yet?

The First Order of 2016
It hopefully might also have failed to escape your attention that a certain wee film was released around a fortnight ago, entitled Star Wars: The Force Awakens. If you’ve ever enjoyed a moment of Star Wars, or are to any extent Star Wars-curious, I would strongly recommend giving it a watch (or a re-watch, or a re-re-watch, as appropriate!).

I read an interview with Force Awakens director JJ Abrams back in November, which included the following words on how he approached the project:

“I tried to not forget the mistakes I’d made, but I also tried to focus on things that I find inspiring about cinema. I asked questions like “How do we make this movie delightful?” That was really the only requirement Larry and I imposed on each other: The movie needed to be delightful. It was not about explaining everything away, not about introducing a certain number of toys for a corporation, not about trying to appease anyone. This has only ever been about what gets us excited.”

I am delighted to report that he was 100% successful in making it delightful. It strikes me that Abrams’ approach can be tweaked slightly to create a perfect foundational question that you can apply to how you approach 2016 and whatever it might have in store:

• What can we do to make this year delightful?

I sincerely hope that 2016 proves the best year yet for you and yours. I sincerely hope that it is always clear what you need to do to make this year delightful for yourself and for others. Happy new year!