The Quill – January 2020

THE QUILL ARTICLE:

Dump Your Resolutions in 2020

Sales & Marketing, Charlotte Region

I’m not particularly into the idea of New Year’s Resolutions. I just think it’s so arbitrary to pick this one time of year to make changes. I also find that it can be a recipe for guilt and self-loathing when in exactly nine days you fall off the resolution wagon. But I do think it’s a great time to take inventory; inventory of things that happened last year and things that you may want to accomplish in the coming year.

I keep a date book throughout the year and in addition to having pages for the months and weeks, it also has a handful of blank pages at the back. At the beginning of last year I wrote down a few projects I wanted to accomplish in 2019. In the last few weeks of the year, I was able to go back and take a look at what I set out to accomplish and what I actually did accomplish. It was fun to see what I was and was not able to get done. (Although I don’t take this as an opportunity to beat myself up for not doing all that I wanted.) I didn’t put a lot of thought into these projects last year and I definitely didn’t have a good system set up to monitor my progress throughout the year. So, this year I set out to have slightly more structure to my inventory taking.

I’m also an avid podcast listener and one of the podcasts I listen regularly is called “10 Things to Tell You.” In a recent episode, host Laura Tremaine shared ten questions she answers for herself at the end of every year. These questions help her to think about the past year and by thinking about the past year, possibly ignite some thoughts about how she wants to approach the year to come. I think it is a terrific exercise. I want to encourage you to check out the podcast in its entirety and will share a link at the bottom of this article. But if you don’t have time for that, I am listing the questions here. There are no right or wrong answers. The answers could be big ideas, deep and emotional or small/über practical ones. Don’t overthink them, just list whatever comes to mind. The hope is by thinking through these questions you may stumble on something that you want to focus on in the coming year. My plan is to use these questions to document my life for the past year as well as use themas something to review at the end of 2020.

1. What was the best part of the year?
2. What worked? What didn’t?
3. What were the best conversations?
4. What was a discovery?
5. Who was most influential to me?
6. What was the best entertainment I consumed?
7. What am I leaving behind this year?
8. What behaviors do I want to change?
9. Where did my beliefs change this year?
10. Who do I want to be in 2020?

I’m going to add one more question. It’s one I added for myself too. And it’s an important one. I think sometimes we get caught up in all the stuff of life and we forget that joy is what feeds our souls. Sometimes we have to be reminded of what feeds our souls. Writing these things down, at least for me, is a reminder of what those things are and to do them more often.

1. What things are making me the happiest currently?

Remember this is for YOU. You don’t have to answer all the questions. Maybe pick 3 and go with that. As long as it serves you. No one is grading this. A+’s all around!

Click HERE to listen to the podcast. Happy New Year!

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