How about "tried and true" rather than "brand new" in the new year?

As I sit here toward the end of the winter holiday I am amazed by the amount of "New Year's Resolution Posts" that have come across on my various social media feeds. While I can attest that my memory skills may not be as clear as they once were, the number of these "resolution" posts seems to have multiplied exponentially this year. "Five Ways to Start Doing More This Year...", "Five Things to Help You Avoid Breaking Your New Year's Resolutions", etc, etc, etc. As I reviewed these posts, I came to the conclusion that instead of trying to start doing something new in 2018, how about committing instead to continuing to do something that worked last year.

It seems to me that we are always looking to do something new or add something more. I am not a mathematician, but if we are feeling like our proverbial "plate" is full, maybe we should just focus on what we already have. I am not suggesting that there isn't room for all of us to improve, but I also want to acknowledge that each of us are clearly doing some things well and maybe our approach in the new year should be to put greater emphasis on those things. In keeping with this pragmatic view, I sat for a few moments to consider what I've been doing in the last year that seemed to work for me both in terms of my professional and personal life. Here's what I came up with:

1. Focus on connecting with people directly:

For those of you who know me, you know that in some cases, email communication is one of my pet peeves. I would much prefer to discuss issues or topics face-to-face rather than via email. In my experience email is truly limited in terms of its effectiveness; you can't really solve anything of substance via email. As a result, in 2018 I will will continue my practice of taking the time to go see people directly or ask others to come see me directly if the question at hand warrants more than just a yes / no response.

2. Focus on establishing and strengthening personal connections:

For the last few weeks before winter break, I was very consistent in making sure I was out of my office at the start of the day to meet students, staff and parents. A simple thing to do really, but in terms of getting the day started on the right foot I haven't found anything much better than this. My day is quite busy, full of meetings and other important tasks, but making the commitment to be more visible and engaged with people may be in my opinion one of the most important things I should be doing. Just taking the time to make eye contact with somebody, checking in quickly about how they are doing in their classes or in their extracurricular activities is time well spent.

3. Focus on my physical well being:

For the past 5 years I have prioritized physical exercise. Certainly in terms of my own physical health it has been beneficial, but I have also found it to truly benefit my mental health as well. On the days when I am tired or overly stressed is when I make sure I have some kind of physical exercise - the impact has been dramatic. Don't just take my word for it... there is research to support my own thoughts on this topic. A recent article from Quartz ("A neuroscientist says there’s a powerful benefit to exercise that is rarely discussed") goes into great detail about the number of benefits of exercise beyond the physical aspects.

4. Taking time to recognize the "efforts" of others:

For quite a few years I have tried to be consistent in recognizing the efforts of those around me. In my opinion, it is more important to recognize not the outcomes, but the efforts that were required to accomplish anything meaningful. Too often we recognize only the achievements of others (i.e. good grades, individual awards, etc.) instead of focusing on the little actions or efforts that allowed those outcomes to take place. Recognizing effort is much more effective in promoting individual reflection as well as the ability for a person to be more independent in their own development.

Maybe before you all start thinking about something else you should do or something new you need to start doing, you should instead reflect a little on what it is you are doing well right now and seek ways to dig deeper and enhance those actions/habits. I have long held the belief that we are more effective when we attempt to be great at a few things rather than mediocre at many. Maybe 2018 will be the year for all of us to focus on improving who we are rather than trying to be somebody we aren't. Happy New Year and best wishes for more of the same :)!