Happy new year to all! May this year be full of blessings, prosperity and happiness for you!

Whatever your new years resolutions may be, here are things I hope we all make progress towards in the coming year.

1. Get leaner, get stronger, work on your endurance. Be it fasting or weightlifting, push your physical comfort zone.

2. Get wealthier, doesn't matter if it's finding a new way to earn on the side or save what you do have. Find ways to protect it as best you can from tax and inflation, so that if hard times come your way you have a safety blanket, and if not, you can start building something to leave to your children.

4: Learn a manual skill, something practical; survivalism, first aid, electronics, carpentry, farming, foreging or hunting. Maybe it can free you in years to come from that white collar work you hate, whatever it is, it will make you a better person than another few games of call of duty will manage.

5: Local knowledge. Learn the lay out of your town or village, where the water sources are, where certain plants grow. Learn some of the stories of your ancestors who lived there, not just the ghost tales but everything that reminds you of the hopes and dreams of your forefathers long gone.

6: Community. You don't need to join a group, but always be looking for quality, sane people with their lives on track who live nearby, go to the gym with them, go for a drink with them, go to any sort of fete or festival or landmark and make friendships with people you can rely on in hard times. Push each other to improve.

Above all, feed the fire of hope inside yourself and let it guide the way to a better place for those around you.