There’s something about January 1st that signals a new beginning, a fresh start and the chance to put past mistakes behind you or to break out of a rut and try something different. Take advantage of the seasonal momentum by using this week between Christmas and Hanukkah and New Year’s Eve to take a few minutes and come up with a short, reasonable list of a few fresh ideas you could experiment with in 2012. There are certain resolutions those of us in business for ourselves tend to gravitate towards year after year, work fewer hours a week, stay on top of invoicing, get more proficient at networking, develop better marketing materials; I’m sure there are plenty more. Sort of like the personal resolutions of losing weight and exercising more, these aren’t always the most effective ways to challenge yourself to grow personally or professionally. So this year, all of my business resolutions will focus only on trying things I’ve never done before, rather than the same old tired promises to improve things I’m already doing. In 2012 two brand new things I’m going to try in the month of January include:
- Getting a college intern. I’ve supervised interns before but have never had a freelance writing student to work with before so this will be an adventure. My hope is to give her a taste of how interesting and challenging profession writing can be while discovering some new things about myself in a leadership role along the way. Since I’ve already practiced on the Boy Scouts with the Communication Badge, she should be in good hands!
- Being a guest on a radio show. A week ago I was asked be interviewed by Judge Penny Wolfgang on her “On Target” radio show about my recent article in the AAA Member Connection magazine. The article focused on cures for “cabin fever” in Upstate New York and, as the parent of three very active boys, this is a subject I’m very comfortable talking about! Though I’m a writer, not a public speaker, it seems like a great opportunity to spread my wings a little so I’ll be shuffling off to Buffalo the first week in January.
I’ve also decided that, instead of coming up with a huge list of resolutions for the whole year, I’m just going to come up with one or two at the beginning of each month which will make them seem less insurmountable and much more manageable. Then, at the end of 2012, I can review them and see how much I was able to accomplish!
Anyone out there have any other good business resolutions for the coming year?
Tags: LinkedIn, Opportunities for writers, Running a business, self-motivation
