It’s 2022… it’s time to buff up your MOJO

New Year is always an exciting time of promise. What might 2022 hold for you?

The last couple of years have been challenging so we might need to grab our mojo and give it a good polish. This can help us make 2022 great – regardless of the inevitable ups and downs we face as educators and in our wider lives.

I’ve always been fascinated by words. What I found really interesting when I was researching this article is that there is no universal word for Mojo. However, I found some really quirky words that might help us look at life a little differently in 2022.

MIXTIE-MAXTIE a Scottish dialect word for a random assortment of mismatching things. This is a great metaphor for life; especially now that COVID is not playing ball. Very little in life ends up as we expect, even when things are ‘normal’. We are all just making it up as we go along. And that’s OK. 2022 can be a random assortment of mismatching things. That might be fun. 

ONWEEDY is an old English dialect word used to describe something that will soon run out or will soon be finished. Let’s hope Covid will soon be finished, but other things like Mother Earth need our help. Let’s make 2022 the year we do stuff that matters. There are some really easy practical things we can do that will help look after the only home we have, and have ever known – Earth. The obvious ones are reduce, reuse, and recycle. Reduce your waste and reuse things instead of throwing them away. If you don’t want them anymore you could sell them or give them to a charity shop so someone else can reuse them.

Let’s make the world that little bit kinder. Kindness doubles when you share it. One random act of kindness reduces stress, anxiety and depression, and increases serotonin, oxytocin and endorphins. All of which make us healthier, happier and can even help us live longer. Sometimes a simple smile can change a person’s day for the better.

We all need to wield a little JADOO in 2022. This is an old 19th century word for magic or conjuring, derived from the Hindi word for enchantment (Jadu). Wherever you look, despite the uncertainty and a little too much doom and gloom, you really can find magic. I recently did a podcast with John Meredith who told me a story about some pupils he was teaching in Ghana. When he said they were going for a walk in the bush they all said it was boring. To encourage his students to use their Jadoo, he suggested they look for movement. The students were amazed at what they saw – because they were looking instead of wishing they could get back on their phones. There is wonder all around us – if we just look. Let’s do more looking and listening this year – but look for the good, the funny, the kind, the inspiring and the amazing. When you do you’ll find that magic and create it too.

And finally, commit to a spot of OVERSPANG in 2022. This is an old Scots dialect word meaning to leap over something. I love this. Everyone has problems. The key is learning to see them as opportunities to learn, get better at something, fail, try again and leap over it. Start by leaping over your negative self-talk, into more positivity. If you are unsure how to do this, start with listening to some upbeat music that makes you happy or go for a walk or a run. Get into nature or find some open green space – look for everything that you can see that’s blue or moving. Optimism really can be learnt. 

No one said life was going to be easy or plain sailing. It’s been especially tough these last few years with disrupted education, disrupted social life and a lot more uncertainty than normal. But embrace the MIXTIE-MAXTIE, life is a random mismatch of things but it still works. You and your family and friends still work as you are; be grateful for that. Recognise the ONWEEDY of life. Nothing goes on for ever – bad or good. There is always a new day, a new promise and new opportunity to be more, better, kinder and happier – if you choose to. Use your JADOO to conjure your own magic – look for it. Make it part of your life in 2022 and OVERSPANG all the obstacles that you meet. Do that and you’ll truly recapture your MOJO.

Sid Madge is a transformation and change specialist and founder of Meee.

Sid Madge is also author of the ‘Meee in Minute’ series of books which each offer 60 ways to change your life, work-, or family-life in 60 seconds.

Meee draws on the best creativity and thinking from the worlds of branding, psychology, neuroscience, education and sociology, to help people embrace change and achieve extraordinary lives.

From pupils to CEOs, Meee has helped thousands find their magic to transform themselves, their communities and their organisations. From leaders of PLCs and SMEs to parents, teachers, students, carers, the unemployed and prison inmates Meee helps people excel.