Happy Monday Guys! And Happy New Year!
I was on FaceTime with my sister earlier and she joked how things with 2017 on it already seem so outdated. Out with the old, and in with the new! Onward to 2018.
A new year brings with it the excitement of new dreams, new opportunities, and new adventures. Vision boards are made with references to health, peace, and prosperity. This is going to be the year I finally…fill in the blank – start my own business, travel more, meet the love of my life, lose those 10 pounds, etc. There’s nothing wrong with any of that.
After all, what’s life without excitement for the future?
The problem is we could be setting ourselves up to be overwhelmed by all of things that we want to happen in the new year, and by extension, all of the things we have to do to make each of those things happen.
That’s sort of where I’m at. 2017 was a great year for me, but as it came to a close I started thinking about all of the things that needed to happen in 2018 to top it. Then I started thinking about all of the things I would need to do to get the ball rolling in each of these areas. Then I started thinking about having to juggle all of these things.
What are these “things?”
Well some of the things on my list are to:
Publish and promote my dissertation research;
Increase my research visibility (more research collaborations, more conference presentations, more publications, invited talks, etc.);
Seek out professional development/research opportunities/leadership opportunities at work;
Improve efficiency and workflow with blogging (e.g. creating an editorial calendar and sticking to it);
Outline blog goals (partnerships, increasing audience engagement; etc.);
Work on a newsletter;
Continue to improve blog content;
Release a product that I’ve been working on
And this is just the abbreviated version.
There’s no enlightened revelation to share with you just yet. All of the things above are still on my list. I want to accomplish a lot in 2018 and that’s perfectly fine. I just want to make sure that I’m balancing these ambitions with having fun and allowing for spontaneity. Maybe the answer is to focus on a couple goals per quarter. Maybe it’s to do more outsourcing. Or maybe it’s just to keep riding the wave doing as much as I can for as long as I can.
I don’t know what the answer is but when I figure it out I’ll be sure to report back. And if you figure it out before me, fill me in! Regardless of these pressures, I’m really excited for this new year, and I hope you are too.
Here’s to 2018 being a year of great health, peace, and prosperity!
Let me know below how you guys are feeling about 2018. Are you more or less optimistic about it than 2017? Excited, nervous, anxious? What’s one thing you’re really looking forward to?
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