Welcoming Nowruz 1401/01/01: A Time for Renewal and Goals
Nowruz marks the first day of the first month of the Iranian calendar, and this year is extra special—it’s also the first day of the 15th century on the Solar Hijri calendar. For many, this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity is the perfect moment to set new goals and open new chapters in life. Interestingly, so many parents have scheduled the birth of their child to coincide with this day that the government reports a tripling in birth rates!
Although I’ve always preferred Christmas as my goal-setting point on the calendar for personal reasons, Nowruz has prompted me to revisit my bucket list and reorganize my to-dos.
Frankly, my current life status is nothing to be proud of. As a twenty-eight-year-old Iranian, I am far from the person I hoped to be both personally and professionally. Various aspects of living in Iran have led me to make wrong decisions over the years, and the snowball effect has made any possible turnaround increasingly difficult and costly.
But in 2022, I decided to pay the price and break the cycle. Over the past four months, I’ve taken my first steps on professional and psychological paths that bring energy and joy to my life. While the journey has been challenging, passion has made many of the changes and transitions remarkably smooth.
On the professional side, I’ve been nurturing my inner programmer for the past four months. For the first time in my life, I don’t feel any pressure pursuing an objective. I have a clear progression plan for the next two to three years, and my energy and thirst for success in this journey will undoubtedly fuel the process.
I’ve also made significant changes in various aspects of my personal life, which I hope will improve my psychological state in the mid-term. I don’t think there’s much left to lose to OCD, social anxiety, and depression. So, I’m prepared and ambitious to do whatever it takes to help myself out of a life heavily influenced by external factors and not reflective of my true potential.
If everything goes as planned, by my 32nd birthday, a much different version of me will be living nearly 70% of his dream life, with a substantial list of accomplishments.
This blog post is more of a personal reminder than an announcement of my goals or wishes for the new year. But if there’s anything you’d like to discuss, I’d love to hear from you in the comments section or my inbox.