Smarty Pants: The Year in Review

Another year is almost over. 

We’re all a little older…but are we wiser?

Media outlets are publishing “Best Of…” lists, so I decided to do my own. But “Best” is a pretty strong word. Instead, I’m going to focus on what I learned over the past twelve months (or 11 months and 26 days…I might still learn a thing or two in the moments that remain).

Every year has its ups and downs; its moments of brilliance and its times of agony. We sometimes focus on the things we didn’t do….the things we could have done better…the people who hurt us…the opportunities we missed. But what about all the stuff we learned that we didn’t know at the end of 2013?

Because we writers tend to like “Top 10,” I’ll limit it to that magic number.   I’d like to think I absorbed more than ten things into my brain in 2014. Please feel free to join me and add your own Top 10 in the Comments section (or even just one or two).

In 2014, I…

1. Figured out how to use some cool new apps, including Instagram, Mindmeister, Basecamp, ListMaster, aWallet, and a few others. I’ve always been a bit of a gadget geek, but these days I’m focused on technology that helps me communicate better, organize my thoughts/life, save time and money, or do something else of value.
2. Learned I could live without a lot of “stuff.” I work in a small space and I cleaned out my home closets. I am minimizing.
3. Started weight-lifting and doing yoga again. I lost three inches (in the right places, not in my brain). I started taking some white powdery stuff called MSM, which makes me feel great. Our client, Dr. David Bach is teaching me all about “biohacking,” and I’m experimenting with my own brain and body. No, I’m not Dr. Frankenstein or  the Bride of Frankenstein or even Igor. I’m just determined to fight the aging process.
4. Honed my domestic skills, by getting back into sewing and knitting. All work and no play…
5. Remembered the joys of paper books. I even joined a book club. I saw a ton of movies too. Jump-starting my cultural life was one of my resolutions for the year.
6. Hired two amazing young women into my company and am slowly but surely learning how to hone my cross-gen communication, management and team-building abilities.
7. Ran a Chamber of Commerce. It was a great learning experience in terms of negotiating, volunteerism, and local business-building. I met some great neighbors. I’m glad I did it, but you probably won’t find me doing it again any time soon.
8. Relaxed as a professional speaker. I even completely shifted gears and shut off my PowerPoint in front of a 200-person audience and improvised.
9. Stopped sweating the small stuff. Maybe it’s the yoga. Maybe it’s age or perspective. I laugh more and stress less.
10. Discovered, as I do every year, who my true friends and supporters are. Thank you to all those colleagues, clients, girlfriends, guy friends, trainers, doctors, lawyers, advisors, service providers, partners in crime, and other random folk who made me smarter and healthier, made me laugh, made me think, and boosted my spirits during tough times.

And, of course, I mastered WordPress, which enables me to write this blog whenever the spirit moves me! Thanks Fred and Tom for making it so easy! If you want to read-up on what else I did this year, just scroll through my older entries.

I’ve also learned this year — as I do every year — that being the “bad girl” and breaking rules is how we all grow and change. So, take some risks and do something unexpected and naughty in 2015. It’s how we all learn!

What’s on YOUR 2014 list? What rules will YOU break in 2015?