Reflections
A new year is always a welcome opportunity: the chance to start with a blank slate, to finally accomplish whatever goals we may have set, to work on ourselves and what we want for our lives. Jan. 1 is such a hopeful time – the upcoming year is full of yet-to-be-fulfilled dreams and expectations. After this past year in particular, everyone is eagerly looking forward to the future, already planning wonderful new experiences.
What happened in the last year that you’d like to do something about this year?
A great thing to do as we enter the new year is to reflect on the past year, on things we can actively control (rather than circumstances beyond our grasp), and examine how we can improve them. Perhaps you gained a little quarantine weight (as so many of us did, believe me, you’re not alone) and would like to work towards getting back to a healthier lifestyle. Maybe you had to adjust to a new schedule or regime and you’d like to tweak your time management skills. Whatever it is, take a few minutes to think about specific actions you personally can take to help yourself meet this goal, as well as measures to ensure you actually perform these actions.
This year was highly transformative for me personally.
I started working from home (as many of us did), and then was called back into the office as our state started to lift restrictions during the summer. As a precaution, I requested to be moved to a less-trafficked area of the office away from colleagues, but many of my personal friends and acquaintances were still at home. Answering questions in an anonymous employee survey for one of those Best Places to Work accolades, I came upon the question: “On a scale of 1 to 10, describe whether your work gives you a sense of purpose and if you’re proud to do what you do.” I work as an accountant at a luxury real estate firm, and admittedly, the job is a good one, with wonderful colleagues, reasonable hours, and good benefits. BUT…did I feel like I had a sense of purpose in the world, did I feel like my job was making a difference in the world, did I feel like what I was doing mattered to the greater good? The answer – a hard NO.
Did I feel like my job was making a difference in the world…The answer – a hard NO.
This led me to reflect: what could I do to change this? Honestly, for years now I’ve been searching for the answer to that question.
Five years ago, I was in a similar job, working as an accountant for a different luxury real estate firm. I’d originally had the normal aspirations: to get a promotion, increase my lifestyle, do what was expected in the business world. But when that path was taking longer than I anticipated, I started to really reflect on the job itself: did I actually like what I was doing? If not, it didn’t really matter whether I got promoted. To be truthful, I was getting bored with the work, and I didn’t really care for the idea of more and more luxury real estate being built, enriching those who were already wealthy and catering to those who had money to spend. I wanted to do something more meaningful.
So I switched to the nonprofit field, still in accounting. But you know the saying, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks”? Well, it was kind of like that for me. I wasn’t previously familiar with nonprofit accounting concepts, and the work was quite different from what I was used to. In some cases, I was able to get it, and in others, I struggled. I also found I still didn’t really like what I was doing. So I thought, what can I do to change this?
I decided perhaps going back to school and switching fields was the way to go. So I switched back to real estate accounting (my comfort zone) and enrolled in a couple college courses part-time. It turned out that wasn’t for me either; I couldn’t absorb the material well, and I physically didn’t have the time to do that plus work plus hobbies I refused to part with. So I settled comfortably back into my real estate accounting life and decided to ensure I made the most of my life outside of work. My employment would allow me to pay for various hobbies and travel, and as far as jobs went, it was manageable and reasonably agreeable. Then came 2020 and all the resurging thoughts and reflections that came with it.
So now, as we exit 2020 and breeze into 2021, I’d like to share with you some of my goals for the new year, born out of my desire to contribute to the greater good and to extract greater enjoyment from the life quadrant where we spend the majority of our time, called “work.”
My Goals for 2021
Goal #1:
The biggest goal I’ve set for this year concerns what you’re reading now: this blog!
The Idea
Prior to 2020, I never would have thought that I’d set up anything like this: I hadn’t shown an ounce of creativity in decades, and I’m not usually the person with lots of initiative. I dabble in things (hence the name!). But somewhere along the line in 2020, I learned that people can blog about all sorts of topics that interest them, and can even make money doing it (provided they put in a *lot* of work). I’d started to feel my creative juices flowing randomly over the summer; for the first time in *years* I felt compelled to write a poem about one of the beautiful sunsets I was witnessing almost every day. (Seriously, in suburban northern Virginia, not anyplace exotic, the sunsets most days were just unbelievable, and I don’t know if it’s because I previously just didn’t take time to watch them or what, but I was utterly amazed at the beauty). I thought about what was important to me, and wellness came to mind. This sphere of knowledge and practice has always interested me, and I thought, what if I could write about what I know and share this with others?
A Website Begins
Thus in September, I purchased my own domain name and started setting up my website. After a lot of learning, writing and tweaking, it went live in October. My postings initially were not released at regular intervals, but within the last month I’ve tried to keep to a weekly posting schedule. I’ve also started publishing weekly newsletters with a link to the current week’s post as well as quirky and fun info (subscribe using the box on the right-hand side of this page to get these entertaining newsletters in your inbox weekly!). My hope is that I can eventually turn this into a full-time successful business, with various streams of income. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed almost every minute of this venture thus far, and if I can impart knowledge on an important facet of life in order to help others better their own lives (as well as utilize my own long-dormant creative spark), then I feel like I’m actively contributing more to the greater good.
2021 Plans for The Joyful Dabbler
2021 will involve a lot of forward movement with regard to my blog. I plan to set up a legal business entity as early as possible. I’ll make my way through some entrepreneurship and blogging courses I’ve already purchased, to help me navigate the legal/financial aspects of owning my own business, as well as learning how to drive traffic to my website. In the second quarter of 2021, I’d like to be confidently managing content, planning topics a month at a time. About halfway through the year, I plan to start down the path of monetization, taking baby steps to get my feet wet and learning how to set up affiliate marketing and digital products. By the end of the year, I hope to be making a small sum monthly to start offsetting my monthly living expenses. I’m well aware that it will likely take several years to build this to the point of being able to support myself financially, and my plan for year 1 may certainly have hiccups and get knocked off course, but I have a goal in mind, and I have the drive to make it happen.
Goal #2:
Another lofty but doable goal I have for 2021 is to become a volunteer crisis counselor with Crisis Text Line.
During the pandemic I (like many others) researched different ways to volunteer and help others, and I found the Crisis Text Line website. People can text their hotline with all sorts of problems ranging from minor to intense, and trained volunteer counselors will converse with them, offering a friendly and impartial ear and guiding them to a state of calm but knowing when to call for additional help (text HOME to 741741 to connect with a counselor).
When I first found Crisis Text Line and read more about becoming a volunteer, I’ll admit, I didn’t think I would be cut out for it. I prefer to see joyous things; I highly respect counselors and mental health professionals and anyone in the medical field, and I daresay, I couldn’t do what they do. To constantly be exposed to family issues, mental issues, potentially dangerous troubles – I feel like it’s not for the faint of heart, and I didn’t feel up to it. I still don’t know if I will be. But after thinking about it for some months now, I feel like I’d be doing a lot of good, and that’s the type of person I want to be. If I’m not able to handle it, that’s ok, but I at least want to try.
Goal #3:
My other goals can be lumped together into a few words: maintain and grow.
I’ve been cooking almost of all my meals, keeping things reasonably healthy and saving money doing it. I want to get back to a regular schedule of exercising, meditating, and reading (I’m using the Today app to track this), and lowering my personal social media/phone usage (this week I started limiting myself to checking social media once per day, as I was inspired to treat my smartphone more like a “dumbphone”). I want to continue my Jewish learning: I was able to connect a lot more with my Judaism this year (read more about how I was able to reap such an amazing benefit during quarantine in my post on Being Grateful in 2020). I want to continue fostering my Jewish connection and studying the Torah (the Jewish term for the Five Books of Moses). Of course, I also need to continue my continuing professional education to maintain my CPA licensure. So lots of maintenance is on the schedule for 2021, as always.
Takeaway
For me, 2020 was a life-changing experience. Because normal activity was interrupted and I had to adapt, a totally different way of life presented itself. I was given the chance to reflect on my current situation and how I might want to change and grow as a person. I was inspired to start a blog and even set out to grow my own business, something I never in a million years would have thought I’d do. I’m trying to better myself and figure out how to help others in a positive and meaningful way, adding good to the world as G-d would want me to do; for only when we all try to do good can peace follow. 2021 is as yet unknown, but is full of potential. I hope all of you enjoyed a safe and happy New Year’s, and that all your resolutions come to fruition – cheers!
Cover image photo credit: IStockPhoto.com/Olena Sakhnenko
