The Ice Bucket Challenge - Has it lost its purpose?

By Simon Wright – Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

It has become the latest internet craze and it is raising money for causes that deserve it. However, the Ice Bucket Challenge, which has seen actors & actresses, musicians, TV personalities and sports stars raise awareness for ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), is threatening to get out of control.

Questions are starting to be raised about the point of the challenge and has it lost its edge/purpose? I promote more background on the Ice Bucket craze and give my view on the summer sensation online.

The idea

So, the Ice Bucket Challenge does exactly what it says on the tin (excuse the pun). It involves people dumping a bucket of ice over themselves, or being assisted in this way by another member of a team, whether that is a family member, relationship partner or work colleague (group pictured conducting the challenge below).

A group of people in Sunderland undertake the Ice Bucket Challenge

The act has to be filmed and the video is then posted online, usually onto social media channels like Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. The person doing the challenge then usually nominates 3-5 people to do the same and give them a timeframe to do the challenge, often between 24-48 hours.

Of course, this isn’t something that should be done for fun or a pointless laugh. A charitable donation has to be made to complete the challenge. In America, which is where the craze got underway, it is often towards the ALS association, whilst over here in the UK, the regular charity benefiting from this is the Motor Neurone Disease Association.

It all sounds simple, or does it?

Celebrity impact

The challenge starting receiving impact in June this year, when personalities from a breakfast programme in the US did the challenge live on-air.

The craze then started to spread with donations being made and more celebrities being nominated. Even Barack Obama and David Cameron were nominated to do the challenge. Wisely, both declined and made just a donation instead. Whilst it could be seen as a bit of good-humoured fun, could you imagine the amount of flak that Cameron would get if he did this? Ed Miliband would have a field day at PMQ’s!

Many other famous faces or familiar names have done their bit though. They include the likes of Susan Boyle, Mark Zuckerberg, Oprah Winfrey, Lewis Hamilton, Lady Gaga and George W. Bush.

Even TV characters have done it, including Kermit the Frog from the Muppets and Homer Simpson from the Simpsons (video below of Homer’s challenge)

More recently, I’ve seen my News Feed, especially on Facebook plastered with my friends and colleagues doing the challenge and being nominated. The spread of this ‘bug’ has been massive.

Happy and sad endings

The main charity cause IBC has helped on these shores is the Motor Neurone Disease Association.  In my case, I do charity donations anyway, and however small this can be, it makes me feel pleased to be giving something back. Recently, the British Heart Foundation sent me a letter to celebrate the first year anniversary of giving money to their fight against heart disease on a monthly basis.

My donations are helping the British Heart Foundation fund groundbreaking heart medicine to save people lives. A case study of this was received as part of the letter I received last month. 18 months into her life, Lauren Burns was diagnosed with a hole in her heart. She underwent major surgery and when complications occurred from this, Lauren spent three months hooked up to a life support machine, fighting for her life. Doctors gave her little hope of survival, but nine years on, Lauren is walking, talking and behaving like many girls of her age band. My donation is helping the BHF and allows more people like Lauren in the UK to come back from the brink and live the quality of life they are today. It is these stories that can have a happy ending.

More notably, Sky Sports F1 presenter Natalie Pinkham has been on a remarkable journey in the last three years with a cause close to her heart. In 1999, Natalie worked in an orphanage in Romania and developed a close bond with a young child, called Mirela. After a moving visit to find Mirela 12 years later, Natalie, with the help of her Grand Prix connections and the charity Hope & Homes for Children, set out to raise £200,000 to build a home for Mirela and her siblings. The story was followed in two moving documentaries for Channel 5. With Natalie’s determination and the help of others, the target was achieved and Mirela and other children were able to move into their new home at the start of 2014. As the home can provide a decent quality of life, it gave Mirela a proper home she could grow up in. 

Sadly in early March, Mirela passed away from acute cardio-respiratory failure, just four days after A Home for Mirela was screened on Channel 5. It was a sad ending to an emotional and very moving journey.

Has IBC lost its edge?

The more videos of the Ice Bucket Challenge go online, the more the craze continues but it begs the question though, that despite the money being raised – has it lost its edge?

There could be a concern that some are doing the challenge and then not following up with a promised donation. I hope that is not the case. There are no accusations being made, but I’m sure there is the odd person who hasn’t thought too much about why they are doing the IBC.

If you have been nominated, I’d do it and make the donation. There are special cases and like I mentioned earlier, the media would have a field day if the President of the United States or our own PM did it when the world we live in is experiencing plenty of worldwide conflict. There isn’t a law for not doing the challenge, but at least make a donation if nominated.

There are critics out there in regards to the Ice Bucket Challenge. The waste of water has been mentioned. This is a very valid point, but if donations are being made to various charities, not just the ones first benefiting, then I think it cancels out this argument.

Also, some have taken it too far, with reports of a bullying case in the United States recently on a child who suffers from autism. The important thing about IBC is not to take it seriously. It is a bit of light-hearted fun. At the end of the day though, make sure to remember why you are doing it. You are doing it to help other causes, not to make yourself look like a fool on YouTube and bask in the limelight for it.

Like the no make-up selfie in March, the Ice Bucket Challenge has raised awareness and that is a good thing. I’m sure there will be something else of a groundbreaking context that will sweep social media channels next year. It might be the way to go in the future when it comes to regular donations.

However, the power of the internet can also carry a poisonous edge to it. IBC is the internet craze of the summer but it is starting to lose the ‘cool’ effect. Maybe it is time to put this onto the scrapheap and think of something else. As long as various charities are benefiting from these campaigns, it is good, but it does need to remain fresh in the minds and not become a repetitive stunt.

Categories: America, Charity, Ice, Ice Bucket Challenge, Internet, Money, Social Media, TV, UK, Water

Schumi's toughest battle

By Simon Wright - Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

As fans of the legendary Italian car manufacturer Ferrari gather outside the Grenoble hospital in France to hold a silent vigil, the world of motorsport and particularly Grand Prix racing says a prayer, holds its breath and hopes that the greatest driver of his generation and possibly of all-time pulls through.

Friday, 3 January marked the 45^th birthday of the seven-time Formula One world champion Michael Schumacher but he would have known nothing about it. The former Jordan, Benetton, Ferrari and Mercedes GP driver has now been in an induced coma for a week after a skiing accident whilst on a family holiday in the French Alps.

Michael Schumacher faces his toughest battle - this one to survive

This isn’t going to be a piece about why the accident happened, or what might have saved Schumacher’s life, nor will it look into the consequences of skiing in the slopes. This will be looking at Michael Schumacher (pictured) the man, Michael Schumacher the racing driver and now the human being who is fighting for his life in a French hospital as we all hope he makes a complete recovery from the serious brain injuries suffered.

While my recent F1 2013 season review before Christmas was my last regular piece on the sport for this website, I felt this was something I wanted and needed to write about. There is no doubt that Schumacher has his millions of fans around the world and others who put him down as an arrogant, smut and petulant German who would win at all costs, even if that meant bending the rules to do so. However I’m sure we can all unite in saying that he needs to come through this barrier and that he is among the best that have ever driven a Grand Prix car.

The arguments will reign on to who is the greatest. Was it Juan Manuel Fangio at a time where drivers were racing with no safety restrictions and consequently, accidents were often fatal? Was it Ayrton Senna – the iconic Brazilian who showed the first signs of ruthlessness required to become a multiple world champion and died doing what he loved? Is it even Schumacher’s countryman Sebastian Vettel, who is sweeping all before him and could well surpass Michael’s records in the years to come? It is a debate that will rage on for years but Schumacher has to be placed among the best. The stats will back this up too. 91 wins, seven world championships, 68 pole positions, over 1500 points amassed and 308 Grand Prix starts.

As a racing driver, he was extremely competitive and hated losing but also loved a challenge. In 1995, he raced to a second successive title with the unheralded Benetton team, becoming the youngest back-to-back world champion until Vettel arrived. Rather than stick with the Enstone unit, he decided to turn his back on them and accept a new challenge. That was to lead the Prancing Horse of Ferrari back to the top. Ferrari had been in the doldrums for far too long when he arrived for 1996. They hadn’t won a constructors’ title for 13 years, a driver’s title for 17 years and there were tough times such as driveshafts snapping in the pitlane and engines blowing up on the formation lap. Not once did he criticise the team though and he moulded them into a winning breed once again. He deserves great credit for accepting a new challenge and building a team around him.

The near-misses were tough to take but the relief and the pride was always there. When he finally achieved his goal of becoming world champion for Ferrari after victory in a gripping wheel-to-wheel duel with Mika Hakkinen at the 2000 Japanese Grand Prix, the majority were delighted. Formula One is not the same without a winning Ferrari outfit. He then proceeded to crush the opposition for the next four seasons. He won the title in 2002 by late July, 2004 by late August – something that with the number of races nowadays is unlikely even for Vettel to achieve. Even when Ferrari didn’t have the best car in 2003, Schumacher put in some meteoritic performances when required to snare the titles away from McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen and the Williams BMW driver Juan Pablo Montoya.

Of course there were dark moments in his career where he had to win at all costs and I’m sure these are things the great man would regret. His move to take Damon Hill out of the 1994 title decider in Adelaide was a rash moment of desperation; the attempt to eliminate Jacques Villeneuve in Jerez at the 1997 finale was blatant and frankly disgusting – even his own tifosi support were incensed by that rash moment. There was also the worst parking offence of the 2006 season at La Rascasse during the dying moments of qualifying in Monte Carlo when he deliberately stopped his car to prevent other quicker cars stealing his pole position. The dark stains on his character are a real shame as it does taint a great champion.

However, I will remember him more for the epic drives he produced time and again. His drive from 16^th on the grid to win the 1995 Belgian Grand Prix for Benetton; his first win for Ferrari at a wet and soggy Barcelona in 1996 when he didn’t have the best car but won by a mile; the 1998 Hungarian Grand Prix on a qualifying style strategy when McLaren had the measure of his chassis; the classic race with Hakkinen in Japan 2000 and the cameo in his comeback in Canada 2011 when he rolled back some of his prime days with clever overtakes in a car that was well below the standard he normally had underneath his disposal. 

As a man, Schumacher has great respect with the general public. He is a loving family man, who cares deeply about the achievements of his kids and his wife. He also spends a lot of time working for charities now his racing days are done and donating money to good causes. He gives a lot back to more unfortunate people who have suffered worst and that means he has my respect. While I admit that when he was winning all the time, it wasn’t great to watch – I appreciated the success and the ‘Dream Team’ at Ferrari more as history was being carved out, something we are witnessing again today with the Red Bull/Vettel combination.

The whole of the motorsport fraternity is thinking of Schumacher and his family at this horrible time. The tributes from former rivals, ex-team-mates and current competitors have been lovely to see. It shows that F1 and the sport in general is a family and we are all deeply affected when something terrible happens. Schumacher would know that from experience; shown when he broke down in floods of tears during a televised press conference after victory at Monza 2000 as he digested the news of a marshal being killed from injuries sustained in a multiple accident earlier in the race. I just hope Michael can pull through and will be able to see the general love, affection and respect that has been fully evident over the past week.

Ferrari fans show their support for their former hero outside hospital

Last Sunday, things didn’t look good whatsoever and I had almost given up hope with the way the reports were coming through of his injuries. Like the fighting desire he showed on the racing track time and again, the signs from Grenoble (Ferrari fans outside pictured) since 29 December have been slightly more positive. The situation is still critical and there is a long way back to recovery or even a stage where we can confidently say Schumacher is out of life danger. We will probably only know the severity more when the induced coma he is currently in is eased slowly by the hard-working and determined doctors over the next week. It would be a terrible irony that after 19 seasons driving around some of the hardest racing circuits at speeds upto 220mph relatively unscathed that this supremely fit human being succumbed to an impact that eyewitnesses have suggested was no more than 10mph.

My thoughts are with Michael Schumacher and the whole of his family. All we can do is keep our fingers crossed, say some prayers and hope that he comes back from the brink and makes a full recovery. This is his toughest battle yet but having seen him at his prime and peak, I know he can beat this, just like he did to all his rivals when he took the chequered flag in first place so often throughout his career.

Categories: Benetton, Charity, Controversy, Ferrari, France, Grenoble, Injury, Jordan, Michael Schumacher, Skiing

My favourite 10 pieces of 2013

By Simon Wright - Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

Before I start looking at future pieces, I wanted to reflect on my favourite 10 pieces of 2013 for Viewing Perspectives. These do not look at the yearly reviews I did in December, so it is pieces I covered from January 1 – November 30 2013.

1. WHAT MAKES US CARE – A STUNNING EXHIBITION – Written in September 2013

http://viewingperspectives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/what-makes-us-care-stunning-exhibition.html

Definitely, this was my most favourite piece of the year and it has easily attracted the most hits, with over 900 page views so far. The average audience of website hits per day I was getting for Viewing Perspectives before the review of ‘What Makes Us Care’ was no more than 8-10 which was slightly disappointing. So to see this rise into the hundreds comfortably was a lovely feeling. The cause, the photography, the venue were all perfect and it attracted strong social media following, especially on Twitter. I’d like to thank The Big Foundation, Centrepoint and Kathryn Prescott for sharing this piece and enjoying what I wrote about ‘What Makes Us Care.’ This is my number one from the past year and the one piece in the history of Viewing Perspectives I lookback on with the most vindication and satisfaction to date.

What Makes Us Care was a special exhibition

2. AUCKLAND – A GUIDE TO WHAT’S ON OFFER IN 2013 – Written in February 2013

http://viewingperspectives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/auckland-guide-to-whats-on-offer-in-2013.html

Back in February of last year, things were pretty bleak for me in regards to the job market. I was relying heavily on low-paid or unpaid freelance work but the job as a travel copywriter with Holiday-Weather.com was the best freelance position I had. The first task I was given was to write a detailed piece about the magnificent city of Auckland in New Zealand. Writing about travel destinations was exciting, a new challenge and one I greatly enjoyed. It is something I can not only put onto my CV in future but gave me a new scope on travelling and another new skill out of my comfort zone. This piece, along with the ones for Costa del Sol and Costa Blanca were the rare high points of a dismal opening six months to 2013.

3. SKINS FIRE – A DARK AND UNHAPPY ENDING – Written in July 2013

http://viewingperspectives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/skins-fire-dark-and-unhappy-ending.html

The groundbreaking British teenage TV drama Skins ended last summer after seven successful series which launched the careers of many young actors and actresses and delivered some amazing storylines along the way. I was intrigued to see what happened with the final series which had some of the previous generations return and the show take a new direction of entering adult lives. Skins Fire was the episode that interested me the most, considering it was the second generation (series 3 and 4) that I was mainly into. I enjoyed sharing my Skins passion and this article was favoured by one of the cast members on Twitter, so it must have been a decent piece of work. If it wasn’t, then I offer my sincere apologises but it was one of my favourites of the past 12 months.

4. 2013 IAAF WORLD ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS REVIEW – Written in August 2013

http://viewingperspectives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/2013-iaaf-world-athletics-championships.html

Those who know my sporting background will be fully aware of the football, motorsport and tennis passions but maybe not so much with athletics. Having gone off the sport around a decade ago, I have been reintroduced in recent years by the feats of Mo Farah and of course, Usain Bolt. The IAAF World Championships in Moscow were an interesting competition and I’d rank it as my favourite sporting piece of 2013.

5. THE STATE OF FINANCES IN 21^ST CENTURY FOOTBALL – Written in April 2013

http://viewingperspectives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/the-state-of-finances-in-21st-century.html

I’m proud of this piece I did in April 2013, although I can’t honestly remember why I did it to start with. I e-mailed a few colleagues who I had worked with when Total Football Magazine existed and used my services. While I regret many aspects about that role, I don’t regret the extra skills collected, nor working with a team of talented contributors who I can call as friends and colleagues. It also showed I could ask people for quotes or to answer questions for me in feature pieces which wasn’t always a comfortable skill in the University days. My view is the result brought about a balanced and constructive piece of feature writing.

6. WHAT WENT WRONG FOR BLACKBERRY? – Written in October 2013

It is fair to say I had an unhappy time with BlackBerry smartphones

http://viewingperspectives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/what-went-wrong-for-blackberry.html

I’m not going to lie; I don’t shed any tears seeing RIM and BlackBerry suffer, even though I do feel for those who have lost their jobs following profit losses and cutbacks. This was a feature I wrote during my time writing for TheRankTank and I took great pleasure in writing about the shortcomings of BlackBerry, especially having had one of their unreliable smartphones for the best part of two years. Taking my professional approach, it was an angle I wanted to cover and the piece I value the most during my freelancing with the retail website.

7. THE DANGERS OF SOCIAL MEDIA – Written in June 2013

http://viewingperspectives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/the-dangers-of-social-media.html

To many of us, social media is seen as a friend of ours…well almost. This was an area I wanted to write about for months but never quite had the courage to do it until I did in June. I offered some advice from my experiences and shared some of my social media stories, especially with Twitter and Facebook. It was another topic I enjoyed sharing my feelings on.

8. IS SEBASTIAN VETTEL BORING? – Written in October 2013

http://viewingperspectives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/is-sebastian-vettel-boring.html

Grand Prix racing takes a backseat on Viewing Perspectives in 2014. While I will still be a casual viewer of the sport, the days of writing regular race reports and season reviews have now reached their conclusion. This was a reflection on the German destroyer that is Sebastian Vettel and giving my view on whether the critics are right to say that he is boring. One of the better pieces on F1 I feel and don’t worry regulars, there won’t be much of this in the next 12 months.

9. ONE YEAR ON FROM UNIVERSITY – A FRUSTRATING 12 MONTHS – Written in May 2013

http://viewingperspectives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/one-year-on-from-university-frustrating.html

Things have changed a lot since I wrote this as spring became summer in 2013. It marked the one-year anniversary of finishing my degree at the University of Northampton and it was at a time where I really felt in a position of no future and no potential being offered. However I wanted to ask the bigger question of whether I regretted going to University with the lack of opportunities around. Click on the link to see what I said. I definitely don’t regret going now too!

10. SUPPORTING TWO WORTHY CAUSES – Written in September 2013

http://viewingperspectives.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/supporting-two-worthy-causes.html

One of my New Year resolutions last year was to start making small contributions to a couple of charities who I have always valued for their amazing work for those who don’t enjoy the same quality of life compared to some of us. I did this after getting my job in the summer last year in the publishing industry and this piece highlights the work they do, why I decided to choose the British Heart Foundation and Teenage Cancer Trust and the reasons for giving something back to the world.

Categories: 2014, Athletics, Auckland, BlackBerry, British Heart Foundation, Charity, Finances, Football, RIM, Sebastian Vettel, Skins, Social Media, Twitter, University, What Makes Us Care

Supporting two worthy causes

By Simon Wright - Follow me on Twitter @Siwri88

Landing the current full-time role back in the middle of July felt great.  Not only did it provide a comfortable income for the first time since the end of those student loans we all relied on during the University days, it gave me the encouragement to do something else I’m happy to do.

Starting last month, I am giving something back to a couple of worthy charities, who need all the promotion and support required to make lives better for those who are more unfortunate, or had a real unlucky break in life.

Despite my bad run of luck when it came to job applications, I can claim to be one of the fortunate ones.  I might be unlucky in love, but am very privileged with what else I have.

I have a loving family, some close friends, professional acquaintances, decent health, a good income, clothes to wear, regular foot to eat and the odd luxury here and there.  When I say luxury that is being able to treat yourself to a new shirt for work, or a new autobiography to read from Amazon or Waterstones, not things like swimming pools, tennis courts or Lamborghinis!

Others in the United Kingdom are not so lucky, and if you expand that to a worldwide scale – then think about the people trapped in Syria at the moment.  You can’t imagine what they are going through as they try to flee a country that is in the news for all the wrong reasons at the moment.

Go further back in time and think about those affected by natural disasters, such as the Asian tsunami of Boxing Day 2004, the earthquake that devastated Haiti in 2010 and the horrific Japanese tsunami of March 2011.  All of these have happened because of the force of Mother Nature.  No-one deserves this kind of element, but it is sadly a cruel part of the world we live in.  I made a donation to those who suffered in Haiti because it was something I wanted to do, and felt they needed the aid.  For example, while I might have been enjoying my University experience, some of the sufferers in Haiti would probably have been struggling to get a proper meal or a clean glass of water. 

For me though, the people and the families I utterly feel for the most is when they get a devastating health setback that can change their lives forever.  For the majority, this is another wicked form of the planet we share together.

I’ve always wanted to give something back, and that meant making donations to charities that most definitely deserve my support in their battles to make life easier for more unfortunate people.  It is something I’ve wanted to do for a while too, but never been able to, until I got into a settled financial position with suitable income coming in.  Now I have this, I am happier to make a contribution back to the less fortunate.

Therefore I am proud to announce that from last month, I set-up a regular monthly donation to two great charities and they are the British Heart Foundation and Teenage Cancer Trust.

The BHF are doing some fantastic work

The British Heart Foundation is the nation’s leading charity for tackling heart disease.  Currently, there are almost 2.7m people living in the UK with coronary heart disease and the numbers are rising.  That statistic shocked me when I read the booklet the BHF sent to me on the donation I started recently, but I know they are doing some incredible work to change these numbers for the better.  I know that with my small contribution on a monthly basis, I could be helping research for understanding heart disease and how it occurs and how it can be cured.  There are so many ways where you can help out, whether that is doing charity events or making a regular contribution which is what I’m doing.  The BHF’s official Twitter channel sent me a tweet last month to thank me for my donation, and it is one of the main charities I always wanted to do something for in close proximity.

Teenage Cancer Trust is an amazing cause that I'm delighted to be a part of

Teenage Cancer Trust (logo pictured) is another amazing cause that I only really started researching more recently.  Every day, six young people across the UK are told they will have some form of cancer, whether that is lung, pancreatic, testicular or any other form of this deadly disease.  Being a young adult myself, this is something that you simply can’t comprehend if you received this devastating diagnosis.  Teenage Cancer Trust is working very hard to build specialist teenage cancer units in NHS hospitals up and down the UK.  They might have only been around for two decades, but they have been supported by many famous people.  They include boyband Blue, film star Nicholas Hoult and the England football team. 

While I haven’t personally been affected by any family loss to these diseases, I am fully aware of their hard work and a couple of scenarios – one fiction and one in the real world made me want to support both causes even more.

In March 2012, the football world came together in support for the footballer Fabrice Muamba.  Muamba was a fit athlete at the peak of his powers and playing in the Premier League for Bolton Wanderers when he suffered a shock cardiac arrest and collapsed on the turf at White Hart Lane during an FA Cup quarter-final between his side and Tottenham Hotspur.  Despite being clinically dead for 78 minutes, Muamba miraculously survived and recently became a dad for the second time.  Although his football career came to an end, he still has his life and he is working with the British Heart Foundation to get defibrillators into football grounds up and down the country.  Football has always been a huge part of who I am as a personality, and when you see something like that, it does shake you up and you want to help out as best as you can. 

Earlier this year, E4 teen drama Skins took the brave decision to hand a cancer storyline in their final series to one of their leading characters.  Naomi Campbell played by the talented actress Lily Loveless was given the shock diagnosis that she had cancer in Skins Fire.  Sadly, this would have an unhappy ending and as treatments including radiotherapy and chemotherapy didn’t work, the cancer spread and ended up being incurable.  Naomi would end up dying at a young age, and whilst there was anger at the heartbreaking ending given to the popular ‘Naomily’ couple in Skins, it was a brave and sensitive issue that the production team tackled.  While it could have perhaps been given better coverage, it did highlight the threat of cancer to youngsters, even in their early 20s.  Watching these episodes was really sad, and although I disagreed with the final outcome, I accepted that it had a powerful impact for the following watching the show. 

These two tales, one that happened in real-life and one that happened in television portray the emotions that can be felt when lives are suddenly turned upside down.  It encouraged me to support these two charities even more and I’m delighted to now be doing that. 

I can now say that I am supporting two tremendous causes and this gives me joy and happiness to be part of the fight to tackle two health issues that need more public attention because they deserve it.  I hope that with my regular donations, I will be helping to make lives better. 

Together, the numbers can decrease of those who have to live with heart problems and cancer and I am proud to be joining the fight to tackle the statistics.

Categories: Asia, Blue, Boxing Day, British Heart Foundation, Charity, E4, Fabrice Muamba, Haiti, NHS, Nicholas Hoult, Syria, Teenage Cancer Trust, Tsunami, UK

New Year resolutions

We are now 12 days into 2013.  2012 gave us all plenty of great memories – both personally and publicly, and it is a year that I am sure none of us will forget in a hurry.

Did you make any New Year resolutions and have you stuck to them, or broken them already?

My record in this department is mixed.  I never kept them growing up, but succeeded in 2011 with a plan of controlling the amount of alcohol I would have per week.

Last year’s resolution was not great.  I vowed to watch one news bulletin every day, whether that be BBC, ITN, Channel 4, Five News or Sky News.  It lasted 10 days, and I know the news is normally a depressing thing to watch but in reality, I should have done better with this.

By the end of last year – my lack of stability and security led to me making several misjudgements, and I really wasn’t happy with my personality either.  So, rather than make one resolution, I decided to go for an ambitious target of eight in 2013. 

The chances were that two of these wouldn’t see the year out, but I want to stick to these for as long as I can, and my target is for five to at least see out the year.

So – here are the eight resolutions I have made and how I have fared so far in 2013.

1. Limit my use of Facebook

This is priority number one.  It’s true; Facebook has at times taken over in a big way.  When you start feeling insecure about a number of things – ranting on social media is not the right way to go about things.  Trust me; I have learnt this the hard way.  

I have taken breaks from this before, lasting from a week to a month in November 2011 – and although I stayed away for these periods, I always came back and slipped into old habits.

My target for 2013 is to only use Facebook for one hour per week – limiting my status updates, and focusing more on published links, radio show promotions and YouTube video clips.

Two weeks in and I have stuck to this just.  There are no restrictions to Twitter and LinkedIn, but this had to be done and I hope to keep it up.

2. Exercise more

The exercise bike could & should get a lot of extra work this year...

Back in the college days, the best description for me was ‘couch potato,’ because that is what I was.  I use the home gym frequently in summer, but not enough in winter – and my lack of general fitness is a concern.

My plan was to do some stretches at least in the winter months, before doing longer gym routines in the spring and the summer.

Unfortunately, this hasn’t started yet – so it is a fail, but it is something that I want to start soon.

    

      3. Stop being so paranoid

This was a big problem that needed to be ratified.  I often got paranoid about the smallest things – and it got as ridiculous as thinking I had done something wrong, when I probably hadn’t.

This also involved taking things far too personally, over-hyping arguments and even getting concerned if I didn’t get a reply back to a message.

The amount of paranoia I had was so crazy, things had to change and for the better.  In 2013, I am aiming to relax more, not worry so much about the small things and appreciate more what I have at my disposal – both in terms of friends and family.

Already I feel like I’m making progress on this front.  I like to generally think I’m a nice, caring individual but at times, I act like the biggest clown around.  This year – that won’t happen.   

4. Watch my choice of words

In today’s day and age, it is important to have two personas in my view.  That is both a personal view and a professional stance.  Mixing up the two can lead to trouble, especially with the use of words, particularly explicit language.

This is a bad habit I have picked up throughout my education and needs to stop.  I know that swearing is wrong and we all do it.  I probably will still have moments where I utter the wrong word, but more control needs to be shown.

This is a trial and error resolution.  I’m doing what I can in January, but if I say the wrong type of language, I feel guilty.  In February, I’m considering setting up a ‘Swear Jar,’ so if I say a bad word – I have to put some money into the jar and then, I give it away to a good cause.  It is the only way I will learn.

5. Start to support a charity

This is something I would like to invest in, and especially once I get the paid breakthrough in media, whenever that will be. 

I haven’t decided which charity to get involved in and how this will be done yet, but it is a venture that not only I would like to do, but feel it could be a good thing to have on a CV.  Plus, it will be worth it to some who aren't so lucky. 

6. Be less controversial

In my life, I always have had a strong opinion on many topics in current affairs, and this can range from questionable refereeing decisions in football to the latest wrangle in the coalition government, and that is despite not having any serious interest in politics.

Taking a phlegmatic approach to things that you simply can’t control, rather than act like it is the end of the planet is the best way forward.  I will still agree/disagree with decisions/principles/proposals – but hearing both sides of the argument would be wise.

I feel like this resolution is on track – although I can’t help think that the future of the coalition isn’t great when David Cameron compares his relationship with the Liberal Democrats to a tin of Ronseal!  That wouldn’t fulfil anyone with much confidence.

7. Learn shorthand/a new language

Learning shorthand is something I need to do

As a trainee journalist, shorthand is still a practical and useful skill to have.  I did a brief bit of training right at the end of my UoN journalism degree, and even purchased a book to do it in my own time.  Then the Total Football position came up, and I completely forgot about it after mid-June.

I’ve been hoping to learn a new language too over the past few years, but never stuck to it.  So, these are two things I would like to start and have a firm grip on by the time 2013 concludes.

The bad news is – I haven’t started either yet so this is already broken.  However, this doesn’t mean I won’t do it either.  I still could do with learning both, and that is something I will be starting real soon.  However I have said this before, especially about the new language…

8. Keep caffeine levels down

I had a high amount of caffeine in my diet in 2012, especially if I was having an energy drink and a can of fizzy drink in the same day.

So in 2013, I’m limiting my caffeine drinks to one cold drink + two hot drinks.  Trying decaf coffee is something I have already done and it still has a nice taste, just without the high caffeine boost which is a good thing.

At the moment, I have stuck to this so far – so I’m pleased with this.

My diet has never been the best, and is something I want to work on in the long-term.  It won’t happen overnight so if I can control this area in 2013, I will be delighted.  I can move onto another aspect in 2014.

So there you have it, I want to make plenty of changes.  Two of these eight have already been broken, but it could be worse – it could have been eight from eight.  So I’m relatively happy with how my New Year Resolutions are going so far.  I hope I can keep this up longer-term until the end of the year.

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