Checking in on 2019’s New Year’s Themes
A few weeks back, I blogged about creating a theme for 2019 instead of a resolution. As I’ve entered the throes of 2019, I’ve been thinking on my theme and doing some self-evaluation for how my 2019 New Year’s themes are going so far this year. As part of my growth, I’m giving you an update on how I’m doing with my themes to keep myself accountable. How about you? How’s it going for you?
As a reminder, my two themes were:
- Giving myself permission to celebrate what I’ve accomplished and to rest more as a part of that celebration
- Creating spaces for organizations to have conversations that matter
So far, how am I doing? I’ve had some wins and some short fallings in each of these areas. For example, I’m working hard to give myself permission to celebrate what I’ve accomplished, but it’s so much easier to see all I haven’t yet accomplished.
As I reflected on the past two months, one of the things I’m most excited about from January and February include the continued launch of a new keynote called, Finding Your Voice. As of today, I can celebrate booking this program several times for the upcoming year. We also were able to capture the program on video and create video clips around the program for our YouTube channel.
Even though there are a thousand more things to do when it comes to this keynote, when I look at what we’ve done so far, that’s significant progress, even if I see there’s so much more to do. What have you done so far this year where you’ve made a lot more progress than you think? Identify those things and celebrate your win today! I’m learning when I pause and celebrate, I find myself a lot more motivated to continue making progress.
As part of that celebration process, one of my action steps was to take time off to regroup and revamp. This was in contrast to my usual push for more work. Looking back at the number of hours I’ve put in each week, as usual, it’s far more than my alleged 40-hour work week. For example, last week, I put in a full week of work, then attended a work conference through the full weekend, and was back to work on Monday. The result? I’m tired. Really tired and easily frustrated by all that remains on my work plate.
What’s the best solution for moving past this feeling? Taking my own advice and taking a day to revamp and regroup. Is it hard to do? Yes, it’s totally hard to do. When I remind myself of the benefits of time off and disconnect time, I remember the importance of stepping away. So I asked my boss if I could take most of yesterday off. Guess what? She said yes!
This Inc. article, Why Taking Time Off is Good for Your Brain, reminds us that our brains rebel when pushed too far and provides some easy steps for taking time to keep yourself and your brain engaged in your work. My brain is still tired even after a day off and pushing through won’t make it better. It’s a good reminder of the importance of looking back. Look to see what you’ve done so we can pause before pushing forward again.
Revisiting my themes has been a good reminder of why we need to give permission to look back and celebrate. We need rest and time to prepare to move forward. I’m curious what would happen if you revisited your goals? It’s a good time to evaluate how you’re doing your work to be the best you this year.
Happy reflecting!
Keynote speaker, trainer, and consultant, Sarah Gibson, helps organizations leverage the power of communication, teamwork, and diversity to improve engagement and transform teams. To buy her book or inquire about her speaking programs, please visit www.sarahjgibson.com.
