Well friends, it's almost the end of the year! If you're like me, you likely have no plans for New Years other than putting your child to bed and cozying up with your significant other to ring in the new year ahead. I don't know about you, but I always feel like the fall flies by and then BAM we're at the end of the year.
No, just me? Ok, then.
With the close of another year, comes one of my new favourite traditions, recapping my year and taking a look back at all the memories, experiences and decisions I made which have brought me here. It might just be my type A personality, but I feel like taking a look back at what you have accomplished, both personally and professionally, truly helps you to practice gratitude and set your intentions for what you want to bring into the new year. This exercise shines a light on where you want to focus your time and energy, because I don't know about you, but the older I get, the more I realize that time is finite, and that my FOMO (fear of missing out) is really starting to become more of a JOMO (joy of missing out). These days, I want nothing more than to get a good night's sleep and crush my goals the following day!
So, with that, the intentions I had set for this year were to hold my boundaries, prioritize more rest and self-care, and strengthen my relationships with my friends and family. I chose the word INVEST which I would use to guide any and all decisions I would make in 2023. One thing I had never done before was to change my lock screen to remind me to hold this intention whenever I was making a decision. It served as a way for me to check in with myself and ask "is this something I want to invest in"? If yes, it had to be done!
So, what investments did I make this year?
Professional goals:
Deepened relationships to further my reach and support of our corporate objectives. This is a fancy way of saying that I was able to meet more people and understand their challenges and offer creative solutions for solving them. If you know me, you know I LOVE SOLVING PROBLEMS!
Strengthened my communication and presentation skills. I had quite a few opportunities this year to use my voice, whether that was in presenting our case for the Growing Professional Committee case competition (where I got to present to our CEO), delivering multiple training sessions to my team to develop their skills, and, my favourite opportunity, delivering a 10-minute TED style talk to over 2000 people at my employee conference in May, without a teleprompter or notes.
Convinced my boss to expense the Slay the Mic course so that I could further develop my voice and message. This included me writing a proposal and defending the reason why I needed to take THIS course, instead of another "approved" course. PS, Slay the Mic cohort 9 is launching in 2024. Get your butt on the waitlist! If you work in corporate and can expense training, send me a note and I can send you my proposal template.
Personal goals:
At the beginning of the year, I wanted to incorporate more self-care and time to check in with myself. Rather than leaving this up to chance, I pre-booked my 5 weeks of vacation on December 31st (something I will be doing again this year) in order to intentionally take time for myself, to reduce stress and burn out. PRO TIP - if your company has a list of the 2024 holidays, take this and go through next year to ensure you have a bunch of "4-day weekends". You're welcome!
I wanted to invest in more experiences. Some of the highlights were, Disney on Ice with my mom and Lina, Shania Twain with my dear friend Malika (I even got to go for FREE), Pride Parade with my work bestie Eric, Werk the World with my little Jenn, and Healed Hearts and Empowered Voices which was a conference I attended SOLO all the way in Mississauga. I also bought museum memberships so that Lina and I could go and learn and explore the museums in Ottawa. Our favourite by far would have to be the museum of Nature but the children's area in the Science and Tech was a close second.
I wanted to invest in my health. This had me convincing my doctor to put me on the sleep study waiting list (if you're someone who regularly has to convince your doctor to take your concerns seriously, you know how much of an accomplishment this is!). This allowed me to have a test and get a diagnosis of sleep apnea (which I, and my husband, had long suspected - snorers unite!). I have just completed my 30-day trial and will be investing in my very own machine and mask in the new year and I cannot wait!
What are my intentions for 2024?
Personally, my intention is to focus on my health and well-being, both physically and mentally. This will look like prioritizing movement in my day, using my CPAP machine, taking time to rest, relax and recharge and deepening relationships with friends and family. I found that this year my husband and I spent a lot of time SURVIVING and my intention in 2024 is to change this into THRIVING. This will look like creating space and holding firm on opportunities for Chris (my husband) and I to have more experiences TOGETHER. This year we continued (and will continue) to play soccer weekly, but my intention is that in 2024 we will take some time away, just the two of us, and have a monthly date night.
Professionally, this year I will be embarking on a new challenge, joining a new team of rockstar individuals from various teams across my department. In this role, I will continue to support my existing team but will also look to find synergies and expand my understanding of our programs and services we offer to Canadian business owners. I will focus on not OVERWORKING and ensure that I'm not taking on tasks which are not mine to handle. Creating a strong work/life balance is also key.
With these intentions in mind, my word for 2024 is HEALTH. My goal is to prioritize physical and mental well-being, adopting practices that support a healthy lifestyle. This looks like finding balance in work and play, moving my body and focus on foods which nourish it, and building healthy relationships with friends, family and, most importantly, myself. I am so excited for the next 366 days (yay to the leap year!) and can't wait to see where I'll be this time next year.
Here's to 2024 - Happy New Year!