Thursday, January 05, 2012

2012: A Roadmap

I've been a follower of David Allen off and on for the last 3 years (or so). I don't always follow GTD (Getting Things Done) to the letter and frequently do exactly what Allen says not to do, which is pick and choose what I want to do and leave the rest for "later" - of course "later" rarely comes.

Every January, Allen sends off an e-mail talking about what he does to review the past year and his plans for the new year. I have tried to do this and answer the questions, but it gets too hard and I quit. I'm going to take a little different tack this year and not try to review 2011, but I'm going to plan what to do in 2012. 

Is this more avoidance? Maybe. My problem in the past has been that I get bogged down trying to figure out what I did and never get to the planning for the future part. I need to start where I am and go from there. 

So, to that end, these are David Allen's questions for the upcoming year:


Creating the new year
  • What would you like to be your biggest triumph in 2012?
    • work: get a grant funded
    • cjkoho: have gross sales of $5,000
    • personal: ride 500 miles on my bike
    • personal: pay down enough debt to be able to buy a car
  • What advice would you like to give yourself in 2012?
    • keep the agreements I make with myself
    • plan big projects and ship them

  • What is the major effort you are planning to improve your financial results in 2012?
    • personal: pack lunch instead of buying at the work cafeteria
    • personal: think about every cent I spend
      • is it necessary?
      • is there a less expensive alternative? 
      • need v. want
    • cjkoho: keep the Etsy shop fully stocked and ready for orders
    • cjkoho: work the shows I'm at - no sitting and waiting for people to ask questions - anticipate what they're going to ask - sell, sell, sell (without being obnoxious)

  • What would you be most happy about completing in 2012?
    • work: getting the grant I've been chasing for 3 years
    • cjkoho: a successful show season (see gross sales comment above)
    • personal: riding my bike, feeling healthier

  • What major indulgence are you willing to experience in 2012?
 
  • What would you most like to change about yourself in 2012?
    • curtail procrastination (I would say eliminate, but let's be realistic here)
    • avoidance of the things I want/need to do because they're "hard"

  • What are you looking forward to learning in 2012?
    • work: SoCRA certification (for clinical research professionals)
    • personal: seeing how far I can go on my bike
    • cjkoho: pushing my dyeing/spinning to new heights

  • What do you think your biggest risk will be in 2012?
    •  the art piece I've committed to exhibiting in February
 
  • What about your work, are you most committed to changing and improving in 2012?
    • stop thinking about it and do it
    • work through the hard bits because they're never as hard as I think they're going to be
    • become the employee I would want to hire

  • What is one as yet undeveloped talent you are willing to explore in 2012?
    •  they're all undeveloped talents, aren't they? or maybe just under-developed
      • blog writing
      • dyeing
      • spinning
      • strength training
 
  • What brings you the most joy and how are you going to do or have more of that in 2012?
    • riding my bike
      • make the commitment and go
      • work through the fear of heading out the door
    • spinning
      • commit to a small amount of time every single day
  • Who or what, other than yourself, are you most committed to loving and serving in 2012?
    • my children
    • my spouse
    • my fiber friends

  • What one word would you like to have as your theme in 2012?
    •  momentum

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