January 5, 2021
Making This Year Great
Happy 2021!
I hope you had a wonderful holiday break, or breaks, as the case may be. As I wrote before we left, we definitely earned it.
Let’s go back to 2020 for just a second. No, this isn’t going to be a horror story. Despite it all, we as a system had a very successful year, so please bear with me and think back to 2020 for a minute or two.
What are three things that were under your control that you wish you would have focused on to make 2020 a more gratifying year from a professional perspective? Maybe one of these things was pointed out in your performance review. Perhaps another you wanted to do but never got around to actually doing it. Perhaps it is an idea that just came to you, but it would have been great to do last year.
Merely wishing we would have done things differently does nothing to improve 2020’s outcomes. We get no do-overs. Nevertheless, it can help make for a better tomorrow, a better 2021 and beyond. An appropriate quote for a new year (attributed to multiple people) is, “Although no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start now and make a brand new ending.” You can and should start your brand new ending, and now is a perfect time to do it.
Write down those three things you wished you would have done in 2020. Put them in SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound) goal form. Hang them up on your wall or somewhere where you will see them every day. Talk to your colleagues about them. Make a plan to make achieving those three goals a reality. Chip away at those goals on a daily basis. Make achieving those goals part of your normal daily routine.
This is more than just a goal-writing exercise. Think about the power of every extension professional and extension volunteer in our extension system working toward and achieving their three goals. That is a lot of system-wide improvement. The people we serve will be better served. Our professional and volunteer experience will be more fulfilling. Our system will be more effective and impactful.
Write your three goals down and get after them. The people we serve, you, your colleagues, and K-State Research and Extension all need you to be successful in reaching those goals! Help make this year great. In fact, let’s make this year the best extension year ever.