Happy Very Nearly New Year!

It’s that time of year when we look at the last year’s goals and ambitions, see how we stacked up, and (best part) make new (or renew) goals for the New Year.

My report card didn’t come in to so hot (based on my ambitions) for 2019. Even the parts that can be checked off as done, weren’t necessarily won.

Yet, onward! New spreadsheets full of ambitions, new books to read and things to learn, new words to write, and new adventures await!

In 2014 I learned the “Word of the Year” concept. I like it. It’s a challenge to choose a guiding principal and pinpoint it down to one word for the year.

More

Every year, every week, every day, really, I want to learn more, live more, do more…Be. More. Can we be more?

Hmm

Well, for sure we can make the most of what we have and who we are. Plus, when we work together, raise each other, and lock arms when we push forward…then we are more.

I’m thinking of a song I adore called, “Level Up.” by Vienna Teng.

This stanza:

“Yes, you are only one.
No, it is not enough
But if you lift your eyes, I am your brother.
And this is all we need.
And this is where we start.
This is the day we greet.
This is the day, no other.”

It’s a great New Year – New You – Build it, or Re-Build it, song. Check it:

Give More

“If you are afraid, give more.
If you are alive, give more now.
Everybody here has seams and scars.
So what. Level up.”

Like many  humans I know, my ambitions are across a gamut. When I entered back into the business world, I adopted the mantra that I would no longer limit my ambitions to one life component, no, I push myself and my place in the universe professionally, plus in advocacy, writing and other creating, family and friends.

I’m greedy for knowledge, for progress, collaboration, and achievement. I’m greedy for the time and energy to create. I’m greedy for the space and opportunities to refuel. And, AND, I’m still trying to figure out how this looks without, well, killing me. While also navigating what success looks like with each of these and how to balance, (Ah, that word…balance, anyone else find it a bit of a trigger?) Anyway, I’m still working on this juggling act because, as I said in five years ago, in “Dear 2015,”

I want it all.

So, that’s a lot to distill into one word, right? Therefore, the word I’ve chosen is: Maximize.

This year we will be pushing the boundaries (again) of what is “expected.” Some of it will be about growth, some will be about making the most of, or making the best of,  the harder bits of life.

Also, a few years ago my dad asked my family to take the Gallup Strengths Finder and Maximizer comes up as one of my top strengths. Basically, this trait describes people who quest to take something from good to great. Also, who see and teach people through the lens of individual strengths. The belief being strengths is where we should work, further develop, and tune.

Gallup is right, I do feel and act upon strength building and this year I’m going to need (more than ever) to rely, emphasize, and curate the strengths of myself and others in order to move forward. I will be learning alongside peers, colleagues, friends, and family.

It’s a daunting concept, a daunting word, really. But it’s also, to quote Frozen 2, the next right thing.

Ok, 2020, I see you coming. Let’s do this.

 

Happy Pending New Year!