2012: The Year in Review
UPDATE: A friend posted her strategy for the New Year on Facebook. She has built an Excel spreadsheet so of course I think it's genius and I'm going to borrow the concept. Her approach, with some edits, is as follows: "So I have a spreadsheet to monitor 2013 looking across all 12 months. I have restricted quotas for food and beverages that are making me sick . . . and I have columns for activities that I want to spend more time on. My real goal is simply to keep track of 20 simple parameters, and to live with more intent and less illusion."
I've built my own spreadsheet, and we'll see how I do (sorry, it's contents are for my eyes only).
ORIGINAL POST
I’ll just come out and say it: good riddance 2012! While we had many moments of brightness, the clouds seemed to win. One of the regular bright spots was my work with the Zicam team (and no, I’m not trying to butter them up). When I joined Zicam in February, I really believed that we had a diamond in the rough. I couldn’t fathom how we had products that shortened colds but Zicam wasn’t sitting in the medicine cabinets of 110 million American households. And while we’re still far from being the cold remedy version of a “chicken in every pot”, we have made great strides and had tons of fun in the process. I had the good fortune of meeting so many Zicam devotees at BlogHer ’12 and staying in contact with a handful of bloggers. I’ve been able to connect directly, on occasion, with others through Facebook and Twitter. And I know we’ve reached a lot of you with our “Chase” TV commercial featuring the Cold Monster. See how much fun it was to make by watching “How to Make a Monster of a Commercial”.
All that has been great, but the world outside the office walls has been a bit bumpier. In my little world, I’ve had 4 friends diagnosed with cancer this year and 2 additional friends buried by cancer. My daughter lost a teenage friend without explanation in the middle of the night. We were smacked hard by Sandy and the Nor’Easter that followed 1 week later. We were completely knocked into orbit by a mad man in Newtown, CT and his decision to slaughter innocents and simultaneously shatter the innocence of thousands more. Sadly, this was only the most recent and most horrific gun-related tragedy in 2012. My husband had a job change that landed him 1300 miles due west of our home, and I became a single mom of 4 except for every other weekend. My list is not any longer than anyone else’s and far less gloomy than many. Believe me, I count my blessings often, but 2012 was certainly a doozer of a year. So what of it? As my mother would say, “onward and upward”. I know I can’t force a good year through sheer will power and hard work. Yes, fortune favors the prepared mind, hard work pays, and all that. But looking at the list above, I’m reminded that sometimes things are just difficult. Rather than throwing in the towel, I work on concrete things and lean on hope for the rest.
Here are my concrete strategies for 2013 happiness, health and sanity (not necessarily in that order). Feel free to copy and modify to suit you, but please let me know of any great tips!
1. Planning on luck is not a plan. My husband often says, “plan on luck”, and I respond, “plan on planning”. Break big tasks and goals down into parts, make lists with short term objectives or deliverables (and yes, it is sometimes a nightmare to be one of my children!) and GET TO IT
2. Set distinct goals for the biggies and only the biggies: health, family, career, happiness. Don’t lump them together in vague wishes unless you’re a “plan on luck” person. “Get healthier” is not a goal. Eat 1 more daily serving of veggies, get cholesterol below 200, walk 10,000 steps each day are goals. My biggies are:
a. Exercise every day, even if it’s only for 20 minutes and just stretching
b. Plan out the days when kids are home from school so work, laundry, anything on Bravo, and X Box don’t consume time without our knowledge or permission
c. Spend a few minutes at the beginning and end of each day to ponder the good that will happen or the good that has happened in that day.
d. Require the kids to plan and prepare one dinner each week during the summer (when they’re home). It will improve they’re meal planning and cooking skills, make them cooperate more and improve their appreciation of what it takes to put a meal on the table
e. Celebrate the small wins with the Zicam team, not just the big ones
3. Reconnect with friends, new and old. Send one handwritten note or card to a friend each week of the year. The life/death challenges faced by so many in 2012 has made me realize that there won’t always be a “next time” for seeing someone. Isn’t it better to let your friends and family members know how great they are while they’re able to appreciate it? It may feel strange at first, but I am sure that each card will be a pleasant surprise and put a smile on the face of someone dear to me. Let’s tweet about this and see if we can make it a thing! How about #weeklynote or #cardsforfriends?
So there you go. I didn’t tell you what foods to eat to reduce belly fat or that regular handwashing will help to control the spread of germs. You are busy and don’t have time being duped into reading about the latest superfood. Plus, from those of you I met this year, you’re already all over those sorts of tips. But, I will tell you to take your Zicam at the first sign of your Pre-Cold! My Christmas plans stayed on track because I started my Zicam regimen as soon as I felt that ache on the left side of my throat. My son Philip refused to start Zicam and is still barking like a seal. Yes, 15 year olds still know it all!