As we are gearing up into the New Year, this moment is the perfect time to review, reflect and react. Consider yourself as a ship that has limited capacity on what it can accommodate for it to transit between shores. When a ship is overloaded, it begins to sink because it is running on over capacity.

The year 2014 probably for most of us came with its ups and down, peak and valley, wax and wane. At the beginning of the year, most of us had that thought of what we hope to achieve at the turn of the year. Some of us even penned this down to keep track of goals as they are being met. However, as for many of us, it was all a dream that never materialized. Would you know what is holding you back?

The question is, who is rocking your boat this year but have tendency to sink your ship. That is your deadweight! They can be your closest buddy, colleagues, family members, community, fraternity, association, relatives, neighbors or agents. If you continue to give them same space in your boat, they have the tendency to fully sink you or tear you apart in 2015.

May be you’re already immersed in water and striving out for survival. This is the perfect time to start clearing the debris in your ship. First recognize where you are and begin to iron out and fire off unnecessary distraction, relationship, projects, activities, friendship, association, social media apps and TV programming that is draining you and keeping you farther from where you want to be. They steal your time, your joy and eventually your progress. Lay off those deadweight. They amount to nothing!

I have come to understand not every opportunity is to be harnessed, not all that glitters are gold and not all friendship should last past its season. Also recognizing that for every level, it attracts new challenges. Thus, the friendship you keep either makes or mar you and your friends’ cycle determines your ends. If you are struggling to get along with your life, check those around you. Take a bend, offload any deadweight.

Wish you the best in Year 2015.