It's all about timing

MANY of us start each year with a resolution to do something virtuous to improve our lives or the lives of others.

MANY of us start each year with a resolution to do something virtuous to improve our lives or the lives of others.

And usually by about this point in the cycle those great plans have fallen well and truly by the wayside. That has certainly been the case for me. A couple of years ago I resolved to cook at home at least three nights a week. That never eventuated. Last year I made the decision to get through all my email each day before I left the office. As I write this there are 338 unread emails in my inbox. Another year it was all about health and fitness and the less said about that one the better. A colleague told me recently that her new year's resolution was to be more punctual. That could never be a resolution for me as I am the most punctual person I know, perhaps with the exception of our fashion director, Ken Thompson. My feeling is that if you're not a few minutes early for an appointment then you're basically late.

I recently interviewed Matt Hall, a former RAAF fighter pilot, now a full-time professional race pilot, and he says the most stress he's ever suffered is not actually racing planes or getting shot at in a combat environment, it's feeling like he's running late for something. During the interview I felt as if I'd finally met someone who thinks like me. "We have a saying in the military that stays with you for the rest of your life," he says. "And that's if you're five minutes early you're five minutes late, meaning that you should always be planning to be 10 minutes early in everything you do so that you are ready and waiting when it's your time to be doing something." I had met Hall to talk about his experience of flying planes and specifically to find out whether a pilot really needs a specific pilot's watch to fly a plane. Pilot's watches have been growing in popularity in recent years and although most people wear them for their aesthetics rather than their functionality it turns out that, despite advances in aviation technology, a pilot really does need to know how to navigate in an analog way.

Apart from making resolutions, in our first issue of the year we like to look ahead at what lies on the horizon. Our annual year ahead list features products, events, openings and trends that we're predicting will be big this year. It's also an America's Cup year and our regular sailing writer, Derek Hand, takes a look at what is at stake this year in the ultimate race in yachting, which is due to take place in San Francisco in September. And speaking of the year ahead ... we've got some great issues planned that we're very excited about and we hope you will be too. Feel free to tell us what you'd like to see in WISH this year. You can reach us on [e-mail] or via our Facebook page at facebook.com/wishmagazine