It's December 17, and I can't stop thinking about 2016. I know, I know. There are fourteen more days to 2015, and a lot can happen in fourteen days. Even just today I approached somebody about something that now looks like it's going to happen.
In 2016.
I get giddy this time of year--the possibilities of the new year all shiny and exciting like the pile of wrapped presents under the tree. I reviewed my 2015 list, and am pleased to note that as of yesterday, I completed nine out of eleven items on that list. I could make an argument for number ten and eleven, but I know my efforts there can be improved upon, so they'll shift forward into the new year with a whole batch of other goals. Am I the only person who gets excited about setting new goals?
2015 was a Year of Yes for me. I accepted invitations to visit with book clubs and writing groups. I planned a conference, joined a national board of directors, blogged with several group blogs, write an article for a writer's magazine, and hit all of my deadlines. It was fun, busy, expensive, and rewarding. I'll take a lot from the experience of saying yes to everything, but I know that 2016 is a time to do things differently.
That's why I'm calling 2016 the year of Costanza Marketing. It's time to shake things up and take scary risks, the kind where you don't know the results because you haven't tried them before. It's time to do the opposite of everything I've been doing. I'm starting the year with a website redesign (and I'm SO EXCITED and my instincts are to turn it on NOW, but I'm doing the opposite and trying to make sure it's all finished and close to perfect before doing so). I'm setting specific goals, not general ones. I'm taking time out to determine what success looks like to me. (This is important. Do you know what success looks like to you? If you don't, then how will you recognize it when you achieve it?) (I think that's going to be a recurring theme in 2016. Stay tuned.).
I know a lot of people who are winding down 2015, saying goodbye to the year that, as of this writing is 96% past. I know 2016 holds great things and I can't wait. But that's not to say I'm ready to gloss over December 18-31 just yet. Because who knows what they'll bring?