Happy New Year! Hope you’re reading this well and rested, fat and happy, from the holiday season. Now it’s time for resolutions…
Resolutions are new for me because: a) I never really make them (I prefer to just say I’ll “work on” certain areas of my life) And b), I feel like they’re set up to fail. So much so, that I refuse to start anything even remotely perceived to be a resolution on January 1st. It’s like how people get their significant other’s name tattooed on their arm and almost always break up two weeks later. For whatever reason once you commit to it, you just know it won’t work.
Anyhow, I thought it’d be good to share with you guys (and simultaneously hold myself accountable) my professional goals for this year. They are, in no particular order:
#1. Become a better presenter.
I’m a very outgoing person. One-on-one interaction? Fine. Small groups? Great. But, get me in front of people? Where everyone’s looking at me? And purposely listening to the words coming out of my mouth?! My brain turns to mush.
If I have a few days to practice, I feel a bit better, but now that I’ve been working in the “real world,” I know that’s just not realistic more than half the time. So, I will make it a mission to do more off-the-cuff presenting in low-pressure situations, so I can perform better in formal presentations and other high-pressure situations.
#2. Fully transition to SvcD/XD.
In October 2008, I moved to New York and set out, bright eyed and bushy-tailed—and in the middle of a recession—to get a full-time job as a designer. I was interested in many areas of primarily print design, so I thought I’d start in publications which I had loved for years.
In January 2009, I was upset I hadn’t found a design job yet.
It’s now January 2010, and I’m so glad I didn’t find it.
While the past year has been stressful and full of ups and downs (I still wonder how I made it), it allowed me to really pinpoint my “what” in the timeless phrase: do what you love and the money will follow. Well I found what I love. So, job (ie money), wherever you are, I’m ready now. 
#3. Fail more.
This is the biggest one.
I was reading the new issue of Wired on the plane back to New York and came across this article about the neuroscience of screwing up. The dek read: if we can train our brains to embrace failure, we open ourselves to new discoveries.
Though I read something (similar to this) a while ago that got me thinking I’m really more afraid of success than failure, reading the Wired article was a great way to remind myself to stay cognizant of why I’m hesitant to approach—or don’t approach at all—certain situations in which it’s not certain I’ll succeed. And I don’t think it would hurt to work on this in both professional and personal contexts. Besides, how does the saying go? The best way to succeed is to double your failure rate, right?
That’s all. I have a couple other nit-picky resolutions, but those above are the major ones. I really hope I will diligently work on these over the next 12 months. Feel free to share yours too, if you’d like.
