Our Christmas season nearly knocks us out every year to the point that the new year is always a surprise–what? You again?! And this season included our whole office getting sick in some form for at least two weeks. Lame! I’m going on my fourth alongside Paul and Jasper. In fact, we spent New Year’s Day at urgent care and then another few hours at the pharmacy (turns out there’s only one open for 24 hours on a holiday!). That’s all to say, I wouldn’t say that I’ve been super in the “let’s dream of what’s going down in 2020” spirit quite yet.
You can find our 2020 Printable Resolutions page here.
But! I’ve seen enough posts on Instagram showing that many of you have indeed made some wonderful resolutions or affirmations or whatever you do to state your goals for the year. Which leads me to my first question: What form of goals do you do? Resolutions, a word for the year? I’d love to hear what you do!
I usually have a day long session in a lovely mountain escape with some friends where we take turns recapping the previous year and stating our goals for the new year. However, as I write this, I have absolutely NO IDEA what my goals were last year, which indicates to me that I need to do a better job of making them visible so I can actually remember what they are! In fact, I’m using this post as an excuse to deduce what I will be doing…thanks for your patience!
Printable New Year’s Resolution Page
To assist me and you in that quest, we have brought back our New Year’s Resolution printable illustrated by one of our favorites, Libby Van Der Ploeg. It’s based on her Women Working poster, which you can find here.
I wrote a few notes about my thoughts about 2020 here, while I was at the pharmacy. I think I’ll start by sharing some things I’d like to see and then maybe I’ll develop a more thorough plan to make them happen.
Ok, as I type I think I know what I want to focus on. Are you still with me? Or did my lack of direction throw you off?
As I briefly mentioned in my post, 2019 was the year of Tough Conversations. I don’t know if it’s because I’m a manager or because I’m getting older so there’s naturally more tough things to talk about, or because I’m involved with more things, but there was one after another. And you know what? No matter how many times I rehearsed them or googled “how to have a tough conversation”, not too many of them went well or at least as well as I had hoped.
I’m aware that communication is not my strong suit, but I’d very much like to improve and instead of shooting for a bunch of little things to improve upon, I think I’m going to take the year to focus on this one thing. I’ve been interested in the art of conversation for awhile and I’m hoping that there are some books and other resources that will help me in this area. Maybe some workshops? Classes?
Along with conversation, learning how to master tough topics would be ideal. In this tricky political climate I find myself becoming more base in my reactions, but I’d like to take the time to listen and speak in a way that’s thoughtful, eloquent, and open. I’d also like to be more open and communicative in my marriage, at work, and well, everywhere. I’ve learned enough in life to know that communication is key to most successes, so perhaps this will affect other areas of my life.
Ok! There, I made some sort of progress on selecting one thing to focus on. Now! I need some resources! Do you have any books or classes or workshop suggestions? Would love to hear them!
I’d also love to hear what you have in store for 2020. Please use our printable sheet to get going! You can find it here.