For 2020, I have settled on “read”. Up until a few years ago, I was what many would call an avid reader. Starting in childhood, including reading 22 Hardy Boys’ books during a 21 day stay on Cape Cod, I was rarely found without a book nearby. However, that has changed in the last few years and I have found myself missing the joys of a good book in favor of time in front of a screen. I want to make that change in 2020.

So, my word is “Read” and I am taking a few steps to help myself do better in this realm. Today, I bought 6 books of various genre and have them ready to go for the new year. If I devote 30 minutes a day toward reading that is not on a computer or smartphone, at a minimum I will have 183 hours done before the end of 2020.

While my external presence remains more limited than in years past, I will be at WorkHuman Live in San Antonio this May and at least one other event which is yet to be determined. Other known excursions will include a #StateLineCrew meetup with some of the great HR pros of Illinois and Wisconsin and a family vacation (minus one ): ) to Mallorca.

As always, the future is unknown but I remain positive about the possibilities that we all can embrace in the days, weeks, months, and yes, years ahead.

Writing fits the bill quite nicely!

While I am not one to propose New Years’ Resolutions, I have for the last few years used the One Word approach each January to have a focus for the year. This has worked well for me and for 2019 I have decided to make it a bit more formal and action oriented.

The title of this post is my word for 2019. I’m pairing this with a commitment to myself to write something each day. Even when not for public consumption or toward a bigger goal, I intend to write at least little each day. Writing is something I enjoy (thanks to my HS AP English teacher Mr. Gilmer!) and I have gotten away from writing over the last couple of years.

I know some of you take the same approach as I by picking a word over resolutions. Please share so that we may support one another as the year unfolds.

So, having accomplished the cleaning and organizing of the office and the home, I am now setting aside time to clean the mind.  Now, it’s not necessarily my dirty mind (well, ok…) that needs work, but as I approach a milestone birthday, the memory banks are filling up and I want to find ways to better use the mind power I have left for purposes that are good and noble (or at least fulfilling).  Since I love technology, I’m using tools like Evernote and Google Drive to record things that I might otherwise lose in a purge of the mental databank!  I remember well the days when I would have numerous phone numbers memorized so that I could call my friends.  Sadly, I know very few of my friend’s phone numbers anymore.  Now, it’s as easy as pulling the number up on a cell phone and hitting the green button.  While that’s good and quite convenient, part of me wonders if we are losing something valuable by cleaning out our minds of such information.  What say you, is this a positive trend or should we grasp onto keeping as much in our mind as possible?