It’s Been a Year. Now What?
I just looked and saw that my last blog post was March 23, 2020. Back then, COVID-19 was mere weeks old and we were facing the possibility of a 30-day lockdown to get it under control. 30 whole days, can you believe it?
A lot has happened since then that you don't need me to tell you about. So instead, I want to talk about New Year's Resolutions, and you are invited to join me.
The Only Way is Forward
I started this blog right after I published my book, mostly because I could honestly talk about measurement all the time. I find it (at least so far) endlessly interesting. In fact my blog post just prior to this one was about how viruses are measured which I found fascinating in the very early days of this pandemic. Remember when the whole message was to wash our hands? There seemed to be a lot to talk about in a measurement blog in those early days.
Then I stopped writing for a while. For me, this is a big deal. I write about measurement, I write about interpersonal communications, and I write poetry, plays, and short stories. I usually have at least 3 separate writing projects going at a time and move between them. Then in the early days of the pandemic, I stopped. I didn't have ideas, I didn't have motivation, and I didn't have the discipline to sit and write. I was hard on myself for that, and like lots of people I learned the lesson of being gentle with myself in the face of the pandemic.
And not just the pandemic. I saw the results of climate change, I saw Black Lives Matter protests, and I saw a political environment I wouldn't have believed possible a few years ago. But I'm not going to rehash 2020 in America others will do that more comprehensively elsewhere. On the flip side, I met more of my neighbors than ever before, I bake sourdough bread at home every week, and I'm lucky to easily work from home. All that said, don't look here for memes about how awful 2020 was and how much I'm glad it's nearly over. Like most things, it's all more complicated than what a meme can convey.
So instead of talking here about what went wrong, I'm taking this space to talk about what I'm going to do in the coming year. Resolutions, if you will. But specifically resolutions that are achievable and value the person I want to be. And I invite you to share your own versions and to get that ball rolling, here are mine:
Family. My family is disbursed across the US and being safe this year has meant travel restrictions, so I haven't seen them. My resolution is to see some member of my family once per quarter. Some of you who live close (or with) members of your family think this is a pretty low bar and you might be right. but it will be 4 visits more in 2021 than I made in 2020.
Writing. I'm going to continue to write things. I'm going to give myself deadlines but the goal will be consistency rather than volume. I resolve to write at least one sentence on four out of seven days on one of my projects. You may scoff at this one sentence goal, but I tell you that sitting down in front of the computer is usually the biggest obstacle. Committing to one sentence a day gets me there and it's almost certain that I'll get more than one sentence in, but I'm only committing to the one.
Work. I've been reading Malcolm Gladwell and Brene Brown lately and there are approaches to work and leadership that appeal to me in their various works. My resolution is to share one new way of thinking from one of these (or interesting other) thought leaders with my team each month.
Exercise. One of my pandemic acquisitions has been a dog and dogs (it turns out) like to go for walks. Since dog acquisition I'm already getting about 2 - 3 miles a day in dog walking, so my exercise goal is 10 miles a week. The good news is that I'm already beating this, so this resolution is about keeping it up. My dog, for purposes of illustration, is a 6 year old chocolate Labrador Retriever named Charlie Brown.
Personal growth. I like learning new things and related to my #2 resolution above, I'm going to work to integrate new ways of thinking by reading at least one non-fiction book by a thought leader each quarter.
So that's all of them, more or less in the order that I want to focus on them. As I read (and re-read) these, they seem to strike the right balance of forward motion and time to smell the roses (so to speak). I may not provide an update here on my progress, but if I'm doing it well, some of this will make its way into these regular blog posts.
I hope that wherever you are, you are finding your own balance in this pandemic and I hope that you and your loved ones are as safe and healthy as possible.
Greg
