2020 was a tough year. This is no front page news. Professionally, personally. For so, so many. Myself included.

Throughout this past year I have been determined to focus on almost entirely two things — “silver linings” along with circles of control, concern and influence. (For more on this see the clip of Dr. Covey below)

What do I have control over? What has gone well this year? What are the main silver linings of the day? Week? Month? Year? They are always around – focus on those.

For me my parents recently retired near me. In the past they were several states away and if I was lucky would see them 3, maybe 4 times a year. Now, not always in a “normal” manner I’m able to see them weekly which has been such a blessing in general but especially during a pandemic when in person interactions are at a minimum often.

At work we’ve gained two outstanding educators to our administrative team and several new faculty members who are have fit seamlessly into our lineup and are going above and beyond daily during these challenging times.

I made a goal at the start of the year to go above and beyond with fitness and while the significant shift I knew I needed was expedited by lockdowns early on in the pandemic I’m forever grateful. Having fitness in my daily life again and at a deeper level than ever in my professional life has helped so much not only with my health but also providing daily motivation, peace and balance.

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Those are just a few of the truly significant “pros” of 2020. I could go on and on. Appreciate what we have, what we’ve gained from these experiences and how we will add on to this for the new year and well beyond.

Resolutions seem to have more importance to people now more than ever as we leave a year that putting it mildly disrupted our lives and forced us all to significant adapt to sizable shifts within our daily living. When we make them (if we do) it is important to be both intentional and realistic by choosing targeted resolutions that will lead to happiness. This recent article in The Atlantic gives outstanding perspective on this very subject.

Happy New Year! Make 2021 truly great or not. The choice is yours.

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