I had a really messy day yesterday. So did the world.
I am doing my year-in-review this week. I also didn’t have a newsletter in the can. (Note to self – a potential resolution intention flag.) I had meetings. One I forgot to put in my calendar. In the middle of it all I sat down to just write. Something. Anything. What I came up with, by it’s length and content, I had to admit was a blog post not a newsletter. Uggh.
As a Canadian, I feel unqualified to comment on what happened at the US Capitol yesterday. Though I also think as someone who writes regularly, it would be remiss of me to just pretend it didn’t happen. I feel the need to say to my readers, because a lot of you are American, that I feel with you. I hold hope that you peacefully get past the present moment.
For me, my dilemma illuminates challenges most marketers face.
How do you stay on message when Rome is burning? Without looking like an unempathetic Nero.
How do you get regular consistent work done, while also trying to serve your go up goals?
How do you compete with cat videos? As well as gain a share of your audience’s attention when they are deservedly distracted by many other things?
I am someone who anchors on mantras. I write them on post-it notes. Then stick them places that I won’t ignore them. At least that’s my intention. Then I move them around when they become part of the furniture and I do ignore them.
For me, last year’s mantra was “progress over perfection”. And though I did miss some targets – I accomplished a lot of stuff that was foundational and positions me 2021. Hence the blog post inspired by the year-in-review.
This year’s mantra is “I can figure it out”. A nod to returning to my innovative design thinking self. The real progress that I made in 2020.
Yesterday reminded of when I started my mantra ritual . It was a personally difficult year many moons ago. “I did the best that I could, at that time in my life, with the skills that I had.”
Which maybe is the first step in dealing with these challenges. Accepting where you are today. Holding self-compassion if that falls short of where you want to be. Because it’s from that place that we see and work on filling our skill gaps.
My wish for you at the start of this year is that you achieve growth and prosperity in 2021! Most importantly, that you grow the way you want to grow. With intention. The word I replace the word resolution with – intention.
And that you win attention over cat videos!
