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No matter what long-held dream or life project you’ve been putting off, this is as good a time as any to begin. Today.
At the risk of sounding overly Oprah-ish, we are stepping in momentarily as your life coach and cheerleader, urging you to get off your duff in 2016 and do that well-intentioned thing you’ve been meaning to but never find the time, or maybe the nerve, to tackle.
Northeastern Pennsylvania needs more people who are willing to risk-take with good reason, tuning out the naysayers. Too often, the pessimists and their ceaseless predictions of failure cause good ideas to fizzle on the launch pad. Consequently, great notions never go beyond the blueprint-on-the-napkin phase. Business plans quickly get aborted. Community projects wither. Progress gets put off … again.
For your personal fulfillment, and perhaps the benefit of the region, choose optimism this year and proceed with your plan. You probably won’t need to go far to find people able and willing to help you realize your goal.
Do you have an entrepreneurial spirit? Find mentors and kindred souls at any of the area’s business development and innovation incubators. For example, the Wilkes University Small Business Development Center, in Wilkes-Barre, will supply start-up advice this month during a program called “The First Step.” The workshop is scheduled for 6 p.m. Jan. 13, according to an online event announcement. For details on the $15 session, call the center at 570-408-4340.
Yearning to fix a social ill or solve a problem in your neighborhood? Learn from the example of others in the region doing just that; during only the past few days, the Times Leader has reported on a Kingston church’s year-round initiative to collect and distribute winter coats and a restaurant’s expanding effort to supply healthy meals to school-age children who might otherwise go without. (Leaders of organizations such as The Luzerne Foundation and the United Way of Wyoming Valley could serve as a good sounding board to review and refine your charitable ambitions.)
Is your objective self-improvement, such as dropping a tobacco habit or controlling weight? Contact Help Line of Northeastern Pennsylvania, by calling 1-888-829-1341 or simply 211, to be put in touch with one of the region’s smoking cession programs, its varied support groups and counseling sites for individuals or families.
Will you encounter setbacks? Certainly. Should that realization stop you? Of course not.
We’re rooting for you, knowing that every individual success has a ripple effect – making our collective outlook brighter and our community stronger and better.
For what are you waiting?
Get started.