WORKWORK7: New Year Reset 2022
Happy New Year! Contrary to Larry David’s decision that we can’t say “happy new year” after January 11, I’ve decided that I’m saying it the entire month of January just to prolong the fresh mindset/vibes. Who’s with me? On a more serious note, this WORKWORK is a little bit different because I wanted to share my personal approach to the new year. Naturally, that transcends into both Inner and Outer Work.
I don’t do the typical new years resolutions. Instead, I think through a couple of overarching themes for the year and work backward into smaller categories. Then I think through what walls I need to create space for those things to happen. Remember the last WORKWORK: “Freedom lives within a walled garden”?
This year happens to also be what I call an “awakening year”. I try to be acutely aware of patterns and one pattern that has been clear is that I have a “big shift” year followed by ~3 years of forming into the new version of Erin that is meant to form. 10 years from now, I don’t want to recognize or connect deeply with the Erin that currently exists. Change and evolution are important.
Alright so let’s chat 2022. The themes for 2022 are optimization and no limits. No limits are the overall mindset—no limiting beliefs, and no limits to the amount of happiness, joy, success, and money that can come into my life. Optimization is a very business-y word for recognizing that if I don’t figure out ways to optimize certain categories, I will plateau. There are 4 categories I want to focus on optimizing (self-care, time management, leadership, and networking), within each, there are walls that I am creating to bring freedom:
Self Care
Physical (Active + Food)- Being active is already pretty ingrained into my way of living. I made it a priority about 4 years ago for the sake of longevity. Still, I am optimizing here which is why I purchased 100 classes at Barry’s Bootcamp. On the food side, I could do much better. That’s why I created a standard grocery list to order from Amazon Fresh. Grocery shopping annoys me and I’m usually inconsistent, so I took the time at the beginning of the year to build my own standard list that I can turn to every time - no excuses.
Inner Work (Meditation, Journaling, Affirmations) - This year, I’m really prioritizing my non-asana (yoga) inner work practice. My goal is to meditate for 10 min. every day. Sometimes it blows my mind how hard it can be to commit to 10 min. a day, but I’m doing my best to make sure it happens by getting a headspace membership for the days that I could use some guidance and I purchased the bel candle by 3rd ritual to allow for a greater sense of peace and ritual for the days I feel centered enough to meditate on my own. I purchased a new journal through my favorite journal brand, mish mash. Fresh pages and new pens always get me excited. And lastly, I haven’t found it yet, but I’m on the hunt for a beaded bracelet that I like enough to wear all the time that will support my affirmation practice. I’ll choose 1 affirmation a day, and on each bead, I’ll remember a time where I specifically embodied that affirmation and then say the affirmation, as many times as I can. This is to improve my self-talk and decrease the false stories I tell myself.
Mental Clarity - It became really clear to me over the holiday break how important it is to shut my mind off and disconnect from work. It helped me reach a level of presence that I haven’t had in over 2 years. That’s why I’m trying to keep weekends to as little work as possible (having grace with myself that some projects/launches will require my time) and introducing one “off the grid day” a month. Once a month (probably Saturdays) I will go completely offline - no phone, no computer, no screens. This Saturday will be my first “off the grid” day. Looking forward to sharing any insights.
Time Management
To-do List as My Calendar - I’ve always used time blocking for tasks that I need to make sure get done but I was inspired by this article to commit to fully using my to-do list as my calendar. So far I’ve noticed a big impact, notably the following: more realistic expectations for myself and others of what I can complete within a single day, more clarity on prioritization of tasks, less stress connected to the carry-over effect of not completing items on your to-do list that day and carrying them over to the next. I can feel confident that I have done my best today and the day is complete. Tomorrow is a new day.
Daily Blocks - I’ve blocked out 30 min. time blocks for tasks that I consistently need to visit. Additionally, I’ve created 30 min. time blocks specifically for responding to slack and email, allowing for space to do deep work without distractions.
Saying “No” - I have re-evaluated the work that I am doing outside of Tydo and determined that certain client engagements are not an efficient use of my time, creating too much context switching and time consumption that could be better spent elsewhere. I have already ended a contract and I have a new framework for how to evaluate new opportunities that come my way.
Leadership
Reading - I have recognized that a big practice that helps me think strategically and bring a forward-thinking approach to leading a team is reading. I am optimizing my days for that by setting aside specific time to read: articles, newsletters, business books in the morning, and personal books in the evening. The evening reading is a work in progress. I’ve found that morning reading is easier to tackle so I need to find new walls for getting that evening reading time in. I’m testing out a new tool called HeyDay to see if it’s helpful in tracking all the articles I’m reading, my highlights, and maybe even creating a space to share more of what I’m finding interesting with others!
Coaching - As an ambitious and entrepreneurial individual, I have always prided myself on my ability to self-manage and progress forward. I have humbled myself this year in knowing that in order for me to level up, I need an outside perspective. That’s why I am actively having conversations with prospective coaches to create dedicated time for working through challenges I’m facing.
Listening - this one is simple. Less talking. More listening.
Networking
Personal CRM - I have managed many different CRMs for brands and companies but I have never made it a priority to build out my personal CRM. This year, that's changing. I want to be better at building connections and understanding how I can help others through those. I am actively testing out a more manual version via Airtable and a new tool called Clay in hopes of it being more automated.
Quarterly Goal - In an effort to create more motivation to engage with new people, I have created a quarterly goal of connecting with 150 new people per quarter (50 people per month). I have no idea if this is ambitious or not because I have never tracked this before but looking forward to having a deeper understanding here.
Weekly Priorities - To maintain and build existing relationships, I am creating a weekly priorities list of people that I need to connect with or engage with on some level.
**In order to help manage all of these new tracking tools and processes for networking, I am working with a VA. It’s important to know when you have the bandwidth to do something and when you don’t. I already know that it’s going to be a lot more time and effort to focus on networking and engaging with new and existing people, the tracking of it can be handed off to someone else.