Last year’s strategy of branding my annual To Do List really worked out for me, so I am trying to again. This year, my rallying cry is going to be “Let’s Dance.” To me, Let’s Dance conjures up motion, engagement and creativity. It’s a phrase that’s both positive and uplifting. And, can be used in any number of circumstances, from personal to professional. Plus, Let’s Dance implies a little something that’s been missing in my life for a couple of years: Good Old-fashioned Fun.
Here’s my official To Do List for 2011: The Year of Let’s Dance
More Dancing Sure, it seems obvious now that my theme is Let’s Dance, but I need to remind myself how much I love dancing, any kind of dancing. Though Let’s Dance has a lot of work implications for me in 2011, I don’t want to forget about the literal meaning: actual dancing! I went to Zumba yesterday and enjoyed it so much more than any weightlifting class I’ve done in the last 3 years. So, in 2011, more dancing is on the docket. For fitness, for fun, and maybe even for romance, if I can get my husband to those dance lessons he promised long ago.
More Choreography While the year of Let’er Rip yielded some really fantastic opportunities, there was a randomness to my worklife. That’s what happens when you say “yes!” to everything. It worked well in 2010, but for the upcoming year, I’d like to be more focused on a few things I love doing, rather than lots of things I want to try doing. For me, that means I want to focus on two things: writing and talking. So, I will need some help on the other areas of my work: selling and marketing. I am working on that, so I can concentrate on the creative stuff.
More Research Time to get in fiction writing mode again. It would be very easy to let my schedule fill up with Helen of Pasadena related activities. (And I really love doing them!) But I learned with my first book that fiction writing is a solitary, single-minded exercise, not something you squeeze in around other tasks. So, research first for the next few weeks, then I’m back to super-disciplined writing for a few months to bang out a first draft. Hope my writing group is fired up to get me through another book.
Less Hovering One of the unexpected by-products of The Year of Let’er Rip was that fact that the more I worked on my work, the less involved I became in my children’s lives. Before you start hurling tomatoes and calling for my resignation as a mother, let me state that “less involved” does not mean “neglectful.” I just simply let go of a lot of smaller issues, like daily homework, and concentrated on larger issues, like overall health and wellness of my family. In the past, particularly over the last few years as my work was more stressful, I was guilty of “sweating the small stuff.” Frankly, concentrating on their lives gave me a great excuse to ignore mine for a while. But the pace of 2010 meant I only had time to sweat the big stuff. The result? I was happier; they were happier; the house was calmer. All good. So, I will continue to back off in 2011.
Less Guilt I have never really liked the “G” word because I think it’s overused in the realm of motherhood. It’s easy to blame “guilt” on why women volunteer or take care of their families and friends. I tend to think that women do these things because they like to be caretakers or do-ers, not because they feel guilty. I know that I enjoy being involved, needed and ssupporting the people and the organizations that matter to me. But, I could use a little less guilt in my life when those commitments interfere with my primary responsibility: me, my family and our welfare. So, my goal in 2011 is to be involved, but not feel guilty when I can’t be the Go To Mom.
More adventure For my husband and me, the last three years have been about hunkering down and staying close to home. I bet you and your family have made similar adjustments because of the economy and the overall national frame of mind. But in 2011, I’d like to be more adventurous with my free time and, more importantly, my spirit. More exploration close to home- from theater to music to parks- and maybe even that long-put off trip abroad. And, did I mention more dancing?
What’s on your To Do List for 2011? Do you have a theme? Ready to commit to something big, right here and now? Put it in the comments.
Embracing my chaos. Let’s Dance…
Lian
