My 2024 wishes for you, one for every month

As we open the door to a whole new year I have twelve wishes for you.  One for every month of the year.

I’m sending them to you with hope, and tenaciousness for a happy healthy year full of learning, laughing, and leading.

If you haven’t reviewed my wishes for you from 2020, 2021, 2022, or 2023 you can do that here, here, here, and here if you wish (wink wink, nudge nudge, pun intended).

Here we go.

January – Gratitude (in a card)

• After my annual experiment of getting rid of three things every day, I was ready for a new challenge.  I decided to make and send a gratitude card to one person every week for a year. 
• I created an easy five-step process to keep me on track
• And I learned five things along the way, including how to ditch fear
• Did I do it? (Spoiler alert: yes!) And here’s how you can do it too: part one and part two

February – Curl up with a good book

• I’m a seasoned, passionate, deliberate, strategic learner.  I have been all my life.  
• And you are too. Think of how much learning you’ve done since you were a wee baby.  If we didn’t learn we wouldn’t be able to walk, talk, socialize, work, play, etc.
• There are untold benefits to learning.  All kinds of learning – formal, informal, etc.  And yet learning gets a bum wrap a lot of the time.  There’s not enough time for learning.  It takes too much time.  It’s too expensive, etc.
• We overlook one of the simplest ways of learning – by reading.
• See my favourite reads from 2023 parts one and two for inspiration

March – Mind your mindset

• “After decades of research, world-renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., discovered a simple but groundbreaking idea.” Do you know what it is?
• It’s the power of your mindset. Whether you tend to have a fixed mindset or a growth mindset makes ALL the difference.
• This has been one of the most life-altering learnings of my life (and I don’t say that lightly). 
• So much so that I did a workshop on it. (Learning and Development Roundtable members get access to all 11+ years of learning resources.  If you’re not a member and want access to this workshop and others, all for free, join here now.)

April – It’s time for A.A. (it’s not what you think)

• I was facing a tough, personal conflict and the way ahead seemed blocked so I created a new activity which I now share in my conflict resolution workshops.
• It’s AA or an attitude adjustment which is all about ditching assumptions and finding new ways forward.
• It’s fun and it’s easy.
• Find out how to get an AA yourself plus a funny thing that happened along the way.

May – Tips for email overwhelm

• “The average professional spends 28% of the work day reading and answering email.”
• Enter email overload and overwhelm.
• For that reason, a couple of years ago, I embarked on a goal – inbox zero.  It’s actually not what it sounds like – a completely empty inbox, but rather one that has a small number, not a cringe-inducing, pull-your-hair-out, overwhelming number.
• Was I successful?  You bet your empty inbox I was.
• Here’s how I did it.

June – Exercise your funny bone

• Why did the chicken cross the road?  Who knows, and more importantly it doesn’t matter because the ability to tell jokes is not a requirement for the effective use of humour in today’s workplace.
• Fun fact.  Did you know that Rock.Paper.Scissors Inc. used to host an annual Humour in the Workplace Awards?  We awarded custom-made awards with a rubber chicken head surrounded by feathers to the winners.
• From reducing stress and increasing wellness to dealing with change and increasing innovation, humour is super powerful.
• Find out more (and see a picture of those awards I mentioned)

July – A bevy of life lessons

• Last year we celebrated the 100th Learning and Development Roundtable and to commemorate the occasion I came up with 100 hard-won life lessons and invited you to collaborate
• Readers contributed beautiful, poignant lessons.  Life lessons like this one: “ “I learned that there is no best. The best gets better. There are many unique and amazing places and people. without comparing them, I should celebrate the diversity.”
• Read more about the project including all of the lessons and add your own if you wish.

August – Add activity

• I adore facilitating workshops for change-makers like you.  
• When I teach “Workshops that work,” training of trainers, I often get asked how to make workshops more interactive.
• That was the inspiration for a four-part series on how to do just that.
• Dive in with delight and get active. Part one, two, three, and four.

September – Wrangle your tabs

• Are you cluttering up precious space in your brain and on your browser with a million open tabs?
• I adore easy-peasy tech tools that add ease and efficiency to our lives, like this one I discovered and now use ALL the time.
• Check it out and then exhale with relief. Your brain and browser will thank you.

October – Mental Health tools

• October is mental health awareness month.
• The WHO says mental health “is an integral component of health and well-being that underpins our individual and collective abilities to make decisions, build relationships and shape the world we live in. 
• Mental health is a basic human right.
• I’ve got you covered, whether you are topping up an already healthy noggin or you’re in need of some support.
• Here are four tools to support you and your mental health.

November – Reach out

• Hang in there with me for a sec.
• How do you feel when you hear the word networking?
• Does the mere mention make your stomach roll with images of pushy salespeople in bad, polyester suits?
• No man, woman, or child is an island.  We all need to connect … in ways that work for us.
• Check out the Learning and Development Roundtable I did on networking including why it’s so critical, and funky, fun tools to pave the way your way. (Learning and Development Roundtable members get access to all 11+ years of learning resources.  If you’re not a member and want access to this workshop and others, all for free, join here now.)

December – Celebrating you!

• No matter the form or faith of your celebration(s) this month, you deserve to be celebrated for all you are and all you do.
• We’ve all been forged in fire. It’s what’s made you you and made me me.
• After resting, rise up and shake your groove thing for I’ll stand by you because clearly, you’re simply the best.
• Because humanity is our love story and we’ll get closer to fine when we believe deep in our bones that it’s truly a wonderful world.
• Now go and on and check out this little gift I made for you
• Enjoy!

Would you like to get these sent to you on the first of each month?  Simply sign up here and ‘poof’ they’ll appear.

Now go on and learn, laugh, and lead

Learn

• Click on the posts above that call to you and check out the linked resources.

Laugh

• Wherever you’re at, please find your own unique rhythm for the new year, like these cuties.

Lead

• Thank you for your commitment to learning, laughing, and leading.  Pass on your superpowers, share your strengths, maintain hope and curiosity, rest, relax and approach 2024 with vim, vigor, and above all, curiosity.

P.S. For all you Learning and Development Roundtable (RT) members, as we’re taking a holiday break from the Roundtable, during that time I’ve been sending you my weekly tips on how to learn, laugh, and lead. Like this one!  The week after next I’ll be sending out the invitation for January’s Learning and Development Roundtable. Therefore this will be the last newsletter I send to Roundtable folks, so Roundtable folks, If you want to also sign up to get these weekly tips you can do that here.

P.P.S. If you want to sign up to receive monthly invitations to my monthly Learning and Development Roundtables plus get access to all ten-plus years of Roundtable resources sign up here.