Happy New Year y'all! I hope you had a peaceful ringing in of the new year. We were in bed ready to pass out as soon as 12:01 hit...on the east coast! Ha! Coming off the review of 2021 I sent out to all of you in our monthly newsletter, I thought I'd catalog some goals, scratch that, hopes I have for 2022.
For My Family Life...
For my kids, I really want to try to be present whenever my kids walk in the room. Like so many people who have been working remotely or working from home for the past two years, its hard sometimes to have a boundary between your work and personal life. If I'm working in my home office, I try my best to stop what I'm doing when they walk in the door to say "Hey, how was your day?" So many of us lose ourselves in work or what not at the end of the day and forget to do this with their kids and/or spouse. It has not escaped me that we have less than two years left with our twins in the house on a daily basis.
As somebody who used to be a hands-on dutiful helicopter parent, watching them becoming independent people is both reassuring and difficult for me, but I'm trying I swear. I'm trying to hang on to our time together and let go of them to be their own people with their own agendas at the same time.
Prioritizing time with the hubs is a big one for this year - we're celebrating 20 years in 2022, and sure enough we know that all too soon it will be back to just the two of us here in a few years. I'll admit that most free nights given the choice we'd both vote for take out and an early bed time over going out for a "date night" but since he's found out my secret of uber-early waking and the joy of two hours of quiet time before the house wakes up and life happens, he gets up with me most days and we chillax together before I go exercise. We rarely travel without our kids but best believe we're taking a fabulous big trip by ourselves this summer to celebrate - TBD on location, but it will be fabulous that's for sure! Stay tuned!
For Me + My Business...
One thing I know for sure about myself is that I'm a lifelong learner. This is true for me on both a personal and professional level, so continuing to learn new things and grow is another big priority for me this year. My second year of my hand rendering & sketching art class just booted up again. Classes are at night which can be a struggle for this uber- early riser so you KNOW it must be important to me for me to continue with it. It's been lovely getting to know other students who also are passionate about honing their skills, and the Shannin Williams is off the charts a fantastic teacher!
Like with any relationship, whether personal or professional, I am not the right fit for everyone, and everyone is not the right fit for me. I want to continue attracting our ideal clients that trust us with their projects as we work hard for them through our design process. Last year truly showed me the power of quality over quantity - the number of discovery calls have been fewer than in previous years which we attribute to updates in our processes and the information we send regarding investment amounts and how we can work together before we chat on the phone with prospective clients. We actually consider this a positive thing because the clients that did reach out and continue through our onboarding process to become NLI clients were really ready to dive in.
My Hope For All of Us
Anybody who knows me knows how much I love our country but anyone with a television set can see that it's...well, kind of chaotic to say the least. The last time I felt like we were all united as a nation was in the aftermath of September 11. In the days that followed, I remember a sustained kindness that ran like a river through this country. Nobody cared how you voted in the last election, what you did for a living, who you loved, what you looked like - everyone knew in their bones that we had one job to do and that was to love on one another and hold each other close as people as grieved as one. I remember distinctly the feeling like everyone was trying so hard to be kind in any way possible, helping out where they saw a need, filling a void for someone who needed a hand - however that presented itself, we all chipped in willingly.
Sadly it feels like that river of kindness ran dry a long, long time ago although I do see glimmers of hope. When I do, I try to save the link on my Facebook page so when I need a reminder of the good in the world, I pop over there and reread a story. Plus I figure someone else out there may need a feel good positive story to boost their spirits.
My hope for this year is that people have a little bit more grace with each other, and really remember that we all want the same things in life, a safe place to call home and someone to love who loves us. That's awfully short and sweet but you know what I mean. Love your circle with intensity by all means, but I'm hoping we can all open ourselves to see past the stuff that doesn't really matter and to embrace and celebrate each other in spite of any differences. Try to see someone else's point of view, from their viewpoint. Don't just immediately dismiss them because you don't agree. Be open to learning, be open to listening...more grace, less judgement...that's my game plan any way. If we affect change in our own little worlds of influence, think of how that really could push us forward as a whole. I think its possible if only we all try...it's my hope, anyway.
What do you want to focus on in this new year? Any new goals or dreams? I'd love to know what you're making plans for in 2022!