I am one of those people who loves New Year’s—not for the parties because truthfully, I am usually home with my husband on New Year’s Eve watching the ball drop on TV. The reason I love New Year’s is the idea of having a clean slate. I love looking at the calendar and dreaming up the next year’s adventures. I love setting goals, and I even visualize checking them off throughout the upcoming year. I like to set goals on three levels: personal goals, family goals, and business goals. Setting a goal motivates me, and I review my progress throughout the year to keep me on track and focused.
Yet, I have craved human touch and interaction. A phone call or conversation through a closed door is not the same as a hug and a smile. My family and co-workers have been wonderful and supportive, but I miss being a true part of the world. However, I do count my blessings, I have not been too sick, and I have the good fortune of living in a comfortable house with all that I need. I recognize that many people do not have my good fortune.
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Spending the start of the year in isolation has changed the way I am approaching 2022. I have been more pensive and less positive. I have been more meditative and less active. I have spent time looking backward and less looking forward. I haven’t made my list of goals yet, but instead, I’ve focused on lessons learned from the past year and thought about how those lessons will shape this new year:
Gratitude for My Community. 2021 had its share of difficulty both professionally and personally. Yet, my tribe showed up and supported me through very difficult times. The experience was humbling and, at times, overwhelming.
Business is About People, Not Numbers. We spend so much time at work looking at numbers and setting goals based on profits and finances. While this is important and must always be addressed, we need to also set goals around people.
The World is Moving Fast, Are We Prepared? 2021 seemed to fly by, and the world changed quickly around us. From cybersecurity breaches to climate change events, we all had to adapt and learn how to survive when the world turns upside down. How do we better prepare for disasters? This is not a one-time exercise for a business. We need to constantly reshape and refine our disaster recovery plans. We need to make sure we are prepared for the worst-case scenarios as well as the best.
COVID is Here to Stay. I laugh when I think about how we honestly believed that if we stayed at home for a few weeks in March 2020, we could “flatten the curve” and go back to normal. We are now living a new normal, and we must adapt in order to prosper.
These lessons have made us stronger as we continue to navigate the pandemic in the new year. In 2022, we will continue to focus on the health of our team as we manage the daily business needs in new ways we never thought were possible before.
People are More than Political Beings. The past few years have brought about an extreme divisiveness in our nation. Friends and families have been torn apart in the name of politics and political ideologies. I have also been guilty of judging people based on their voting records and have even narrowed my circle to exclude those who do not agree with my tenets. This is wrong, and I aim to change this in the new year. I am going to start by focusing on our similarities instead of our differences when I interact with others. I will strive to be more open-minded and tolerant. I also plan to turn off the constant news cycle and just enjoy people more!
I hope to be out of quarantine in a day or so, and my idle time of pondering will pass. Life will be back in full swing, and my days will be spent in meetings, on the phone, cooking dinner, and shuttling carpools. However, this year, I may not make my traditional list of goals. I may just focus on my thoughts from this week and use them to propel me and the business forward.