Over the last three years, I’ve quit making New Year’s resolutions. The tendency for those who still make them is to make a list of things to accomplish; and, that list immediately becomes a barrier or wall that seems to get in the way of getting them done. Nationally, stories start appearing late in January about how nobody is still working on their list.
Early in January 2020, I discovered a blogger from Australia, named Geneva Vanderzeil, who had a different system for setting goals for the year. Instead of creating a list of items to accomplish, she creates a “Word Of The Year”; then, measures each new project that she begins that year by asking whether her actions or deeds are working toward satisfying the spirit of her word of the year.
Geneva developed a fillable pdf template to help her and her readers to work through the process. You can find her format at her website, collectivegen.com.
Using Geneva’s format, my first “Word of the Year” was GRATITUDE. Considering that I had survived a massive heart failure just weeks before, it was easy to measure everything that I did in 2020 by whether the spirit of Gratitude was present in my actions. And, by the end of 2020, the business had stabilized.
For 2021, the process directed me to “GROWTH.” Between the immediate aftermath of my hospitalization combined with the impacts of COVID hovering over the year, my businesses had declined significantly.
To counter this, we created three new websites during the first quarter of 2021, worked with Pinterest and developed an email list. The process paid off. We had a 33% increase in clients and a 50% increase in business revenues.
But, Growth did not occur in all sectors of our businesses. What happened? This website fell behind because of the forces that generated the successes of the other businesses. They demanded so much time and energy that I had trouble allocating the time that creating quality content requires. And, I wanted the content to be generated by me. So, research continued; but, output did not.
But, now we’ve got most things in place to maintain and grow the inspection and management companies as the real estate segments of the economy stabilize and rebuild; and, I am excited to return to creating the content that I can be proud of. What will change? My focus. Previously, I wrote about the universe of healthy living. As the blog pages show, topics were wide ranging. This time, my focus will be primarily aimed at Health, Wellness, Nutrition and Fitness. These are the areas in which I have; and, will continue to have, the greatest personal needs and interest.
We will look at topics that are trending in the health and wellness space, with a bias in favor of increasing longevity and healthspan. And, we promise to work to make information accessible and understandable for people of all lifestyles. Hopefully, we can reduce the noise around some of these subjects by our careful research and presentation. We want to help you feel good in your life; and, live a happier, healthier life…on your terms.
It is our mission to include only the best and most accurate information in our content. Fact checking reviews will be ongoing.
In addition, we will begin to publish a weekly newsletter highlighting short articles that also apply to the three main subject areas. These articles will be in response to more current events. In focusing in these areas, I will be working on achieving my word for the year which in 2023 is BALANCE.
The Merriam-Webster Dictionary tells us that Balance, when used as a noun, means the state of having your weight spread equally so that you do not fall; the ability to move or to remain in a position without losing control or falling; and, a state in which different things occur in equal or proper amounts or have an equal or proper amount of importance.
This is what I lost last year. And, I have missed it. Research and teaching have been important parts of my identity since my days in college. As we progress through this year, I will let you know how I’m doing with, you know, the Balance thing