Reading Resolutions 2022: Part 1- Assess How I Did In 2021

Today I am beginning my 2 part series on 2022 Goals. And like the past few years, I begin with a look back at the year that was. 

I like to lead by example. As the author of this blog, one that I know is used by thousands of library workers all over the country as a trusted resource, I also understand that I must not only hold myself to a very high standard, but also, I need to model the behaviors I think all of you should also try.

This is why every single year, before I set out my own reading resolutions, I publicly assess my resolutions from the previous year. Here is last year's post where I assessed my 2020 resolutions

Before you run headlong into a new year, any year, I want to advocate for taking a step back to assess not only the goals you set for 2021, but also how you actually did read in 2021. This is NOT about feeling bad that you didn't keep resolutions or complete goals. No one ever gets everything done, and during year 2 of a pandemic that is especially true.

Rather it is about learning from the past and making adjustments moving forward. I know for myself, this process has saved me from burn out by forcing me to look at long held practices and make real changes, changes that have improved this blog and my professional life in general. In fact, if you have done an assessment before, I highly recommend going back and looking at them all. I just went through the past 4 years of assessments before writing this post and it made me appreciate how much this process has helped me. More on that below.

But even if you have never done this, please considering starting now. It is extremely important to look back at the year that was BEFORE you plan for the year to come, otherwise you are simply making plans in a vacuum, which helps no one. I will demonstrate why this is necessary for you today by using myself as your example. You cannot learn from the past without taking a moment to reflect.

But, before I get to myself, I want to make my annual plea to NOT make resolutions about the number of books you will read in a year. Many people set goals based on a number and in my experience this is never a good idea. It makes many anxious and leads to choosing books based on how quickly you can finish them. It is quality not quantity. Sometimes a book that takes you a month to finish will help you more [whether professionally or personally because it nourished your soul] than 5 that you could have rushed through in that same time frame.  I have more to say on this topic here. 

Do what you want, of course, but that is my professional opinion on this issue.

Now on to the leading by example part. Here is the full post where I laid out my 2021 Reading Resolutions with reasons. As a reminder those resolutions were:

• 2021 Resolution: I will look for ways to drive change when it comes to EDI.
• 2021 Resolution: I need to keep embracing horror while actively inserting graphic novels, nonfiction, and stories [non horror] back into my leisure reading life.
• 2021 Resolution: I will work on increasing connections and interactivity with my general RA training programs.
• 2021 Resolution: I am going to offer more training programs that work to help close the huge communication gap between Administration/Trustees and Library Staff.

What I Did Well:

• Overall, I hit all of my goals in a way I never have before. That sounds like I am bragging, but upon further reflection it is way more complicated than that. I hit my goals because of the lessons I learned from 2020. I learned that living through a pandemic means you need to allow yourself a little grace. I did not want to stop moving forward, but I also made extremely specific and attainable goals. In fact, I would go further to say that the goals I made in 2021 were so successful precisely because I had been actively and honestly assessing how I did each year for the 4 previous years. 2020 helped me progress faster, but without the years of honest assessment before that, I would not be where I am right now. I not only learned about myself throughout the serious assessment process, but I improved at goal setting, which I think is the best outcome of 2021. It is also going to greatly influence my 2022 goals. 
• Also, in general, my work life balance has never been better. I really worked on making sure my days did not go over 8 hours. Physically packing up my convertible work space and putting everything away worked most days. I even started calling it "my commute." A bit stilly, yes, but it helped me to start and end the day at specific times and not let my life and work bleed together. As you will see below, it still is not perfect, but I embraced normal work hours and did not work most weekends. Much of this growth was a way for me to deal with the uncertainties of living through a pandemic, but it also helped that my son was back to school full time in person for most of 2021 so I had time to be more intentional about my work hours in a way I could not during 2020.
• My commitment to making my virtual programs as interactive as my in person appearances worked well for clients and myself. I stopped thinking about virtual as the "also ran" option and embraced it as the go-to. That was a process of mourning the "old ways" as part of the ongoing pandemic, but it also made my programs better for those who hired me. I was not treating the virtual programs as a consolation prize, but as the best way to receive my training. This was a huge. unintended outcome of that 2021 goal and it is going to directly lead to one of my 2022 goals.
• I am very proud of the work Robin Bradford and I have made to drive change in our Actively Anti-Racist training programs. We have been committed to this work and have also evolved to make it as responsive as possible to our varied clients. Getting to partner with Robin [a longtime friend] in this official and regularly scheduled way has been one of my favorite things about 2021 both personally and professionally. Click here to see more on this training option.
• My trustee-administration gap training also took huge leaps when I partnered with my colleague Joe Filapeck. We offered a program directed at library employees and another directed at the trustees. I will be building off this success next year as I am running to replace Joe as the Trustee rep to the Illinois Library Association Executive Board in 2022. This role would place me at the center of state-wide training for Trustees if I win. 

What I Need To Work On:

• As you can see in the bullet points above, much of my success came from partnering with others. I have gotten busier each year since I began this full time consulting gig in 2015, but with more libraries embracing virtual training, and my success at making my virtual programs as interactive as when I appeared in public, things have grown quicker since 2020. I cannot be everything for everyone without help. Partnering with Robin and Joe has been great. I also started an official partnership with Konrad Stump running the Library Committee for the HWA and we have been able to do exponentially more together than I was able to do alone. I hope to do more partnering in order to grow my offerings. In fact, I am going to spend 2022 really thinking about where I want my career to go for the next 5-10 years and partnership/mentorships are looking like a great option.
• While my time management improved in some ways [noted above], demand for my services is increasing-- both my virtual training programs and my writing. When a big deadline is looming, I am still not as prepared as I want to be. I have made some improvements in my organization and time management processes [that are really working], but I am still not there. Partnerships will help, but I still need to work on it. I will say that working with Robin and Konrad specifically, has helped me to establish some better organizational and time management skills because we have major deadlines and need to be one the same page and not waste each other's time. I need to treat my solo assignments with the same level of urgency and organization.
• I need to capture the pure joy of the books I read for fun better and not focus on actively adding specific types of books into my goals as I have done the last few years. I am over the fact that I mostly read Horror and that most if it is for paid work. I like it. I don't need to qualify it, and yet, each year over the last few years I have had a goal that talks about reading more "not horror" or not paid to read titles. But looking back, assigning myself specific types of books to read was not the issue I thought it was. What I need to do is capture my feelings as an average reader for those books I do read just for me, quickly and without thinking. I spend so much time parsing my words and choosing each very carefully for my paid reviews. In those reviews I am wiring a review of the book's best reader, For my fun books I want to capture myself as a reader, unabashedly. That means wiring down thoughts immediately. I started to do this at the end of 2021 and I was very happy with the results.
• Finally, many of my successes came from coming to terms with a pandemic world and not waiting for "normal" to return because it never will. The world will be different as a result, as it is after any major event. I have been actively embracing the changes we have been forced to make that also seem to have improved things overall. I don't want to lose them. Having some noticeable success on this front, does not mean that I am done. I need to think about how I will incorporate and embrace those changes that are for the better going forward without feeling like I lost something, rather focusing on what I have gained.

That's a wrap on 2021 goals. Back tomorrow to set out the official 2022 goals.