Yesterday I began the process of posting my 2024 reading resolutions by first looking back and assessing how I did on my 2023 resolutions. You can read that post here.
Today, I am using what I learned by assessing how last year went, and knowing what things I have planned for the coming year, I present my 2024 Goals-- the ones I will hold myself to for assessment a year from now. I use the term "reading resolutions" to keep the posts as similar as possible from year to year, but really this process is more akin to goal setting. However, since my work is defined by my mission, "training library workers to help leisure readers," reading is at the center of it all.Please remember, I post both my assessment of the year that was and the upcoming year on back-to-back days so that I am forced to hold myself to account for it all, but also because I am a big proponent of the "lead by example" leadership style. If I am advocating for you to make resolutions and then go back and assess how you did before making the next year's resolutions, I also have to do it myself.
These are my resolutions and goals for 2024. I create these for myself specifically; however, I hope you can use them to help you craft resolutions that will work best for you.
Finally, I want to make a plea to do resolutions or goals for yourself no matter how you are feeling. They do not have to be lofty. I love this post from 2022 in Book Riot, with easily achievable reading resolutions. These are no stress, and may seem silly on first glance, but I think they are great. Having something as a goal gives you direction and encouragement to keep moving forward. Small victories add up to larger advancements.
Okay now on to my 4 official resolutions for 2024:
2024 Resolution: Get Back to Reading More Than Just Horror
I gave myself a reading goal break in 2023 because of my service on the ACM selection committee in 2022. As mentioned both in my Best Books I read in 2023 post, and yesterday's post, that left me feeling energized at the start of the year, but a little disappointed by the end. I need to recalibrate and make sure I am reading more widely, for my own pleasure. I need to remember that reading is not just for work, and making sure I always have a "want to" read ready just in case is going to be high on my list of priorities. I do have more time to read for fun now that I do not have events to attend on a regular basis for my children, so the timing here is good both being 2 years out from the ACM and being in the "empty nest."
2024 Resolution: Double Down on Myself
Last year I had a goal to be open minded about big changes in my life, but this year, I know have to really think about what that means tangibly.
As I mentioned yesterday, I took one big step in this direction by investing in my physical space, turning the kids former playroom into an official office, with a door. Although as of this writing, it is not completely done, I am able to use it every day and I can already see how much better and more efficiently I work without using a living room convertible set-up which I had to set up and take down every day.
While I already see improvements, I am going to be honest here, I had to be convinced to spend the money to do this renovation. The idea seemed good but when we sat down to make it happen, it seemed like a lot of money. It took my husband's encouragement and his reminder that it was not as much money as I thought if I broke it down over 10 years, by month, and looked at it as monthly business overhead. Of course he was correct, it is very inexpensive in that light, but the process of him having to help me see it was a reminder that I have not doubled down on myself in a long time.
In fact, thinking about it, it was way back in 2015, when I decided to leave the library and do this job full time when I last doubled down on myself, and the same thing happened back then-- he was all for the change before I was ready. As I ended the year starting the construction project, it made me reflect on that time back in 2015. I also realized that 2024 will be year 9 of me doing consulting as my full time job. This timing, on the precipice of a decade, seems like the right time to really think about what I want for myself, personally and professionally, for the next 10 years of this job.
The last time I put myself first it worked out. This knowledge is leading me to do it again. Having a dedicated office will give me the physical space and provide a mental reminder, that 2024 is the year I give RA for All my full attention as I close out my first decade as a full time consultant.
To this end, I am also actively pursuing a brand new project this year. I have only mentioned it to 1 other person, but I think it is the right thing for me to do in 2024 and is the definition of doubling down on myself. Hopefully, I can share more during this calendar year.
2024 Resolution: Say No More Often (Without Feeling Guilty)
This resolution goes hand in hand with doubling down on myself and what I need to be successful. I cannot double down on myself without being intentional on how much I can handle
I am very busy. I am close to being too busy. I want to be able to control it all before I have to make tougher choices that I am prepared to do. But I do have some big choices this coming year in terms of committing to longer term appointments and I want to make the best choice, not a choice dictated by being burnt out. I am in control of what I do and don't do since I am my own boss and I need to remember that. (Again a combo with the goal before this as well.)
This goal is more than just saying no though, I am actively working with others to allow them to take over things people count on me to do. For example, since 2023, I have been training others to run Librarians' Day at StokerCon because I knew I would miss this year's event for my daughter's college graduation.
I am looking at this way of "saying no" as a transition to allowing others to take the leads and thrive in things I have run for years. If I want to grow my professional work and take on new projects, I have to find ways to allow the other projects I have been involved with to thrive with new leadership. I am always mentoring people, but this is more than that. This is figuring out ways to make room for others in the spaces where I have been leading, preparing them for success, and stepping back as they make it their own.
And yes, there will be some saying no more often. I have already said no to a few things for 2024 for reasons way smaller than my daughter graduating college.
I also want to give Robin Bradford credit for this resolution as well. We spent a few days sharing a room at NELA and had long conversations about 2024 and what our priorities were together and separate. She is much better at saying no than I am, but she also has a full time job on top of her consulting, so I think it was easier for her to get there. She definitely helped me to take a hard look at myself and saying no for the right reasons. Thanks Robin.
2024 Resolution: Start Planning For When I am No Longer "Officially" in Libraries
2025 is looming in front of me as the year when 10 years after leaving daily library work to do full-time consulting, I will no longer have any official affiliation with a library. My 6th consecutive term as a Library Trustee will end and I am not running for re-election. With that, my affiliation with RAILS in an official capacity will also end. That will be happening May 1, 2025 (interestingly it is also 60 days before I will turn 50). You think this is a long way off but I need to start thinking about how I will function professionally after this date, and waiting until Jan 1, 2025 will be too late.
One of the best things I had to help me with the transition from working in a library in 2015 to working for myself was that I was a Library Trustee and I could keep all of my affiliations. I am not running for reelection in 2025, but that means I need 2024 to figure out what I need to do to prepare for this. It may not sound like a big deal, but it is HUGE. For example, do I want to go back into a physical library part-time. I think the answer to that is no, but maybe I still want to keep those official ties to my libraries and the system. If so, I need to consider this option. I have 100% ruled out being a Library Director though. I was still holding back a 20% chance it could happen, but I spent real time thinking about it and I am 100% in the no camp on that front.
My plan is that as I hit one year to go milestones during 2024, I will use those moments to reflect and plan. I know I can stay involved with ILA as much as I want as a member and can transition from the Executive Board to committee work for as long as I want, but I suspect there are more ways that I can help the library and book worlds, things I haven't even considered yet. Without monthly Board meetings and the daily concerns about my local library, I will have time to think more broadly and possibly serve in different spheres.
The important point here though is, I need to have some type of plan by the end of 2024 as to where I want to focus my energies because quitting everything cold turkey, is not a plan for success. Also, as I said above, 2025 is also the year I turn 50 which is a psychological milestone, but one that could cloud my judgment if I don't plan ahead.
There you have it-- my official 2024 Resolutions and Goals. I will be returning here often throughout the year, but for sure, I will be back here with all of you at the start of 2025 to see how it all went.
But before I go, I am seeing an overall trend for the goals and I wanted to note it here-- a move toward intentionally putting myself first. Looking back to last year, this makes even more sense. In 2023, I began the transition to having to balance being a mom and run a company to just working during the day. Now that I have experienced it for a few months, I can see that the transition to working every day without interruptions from kids living at home would be better served by intentionally putting myself and my needs first. I will make better decisions about where to take my company and direct my attention to better train library workers, if I reframe how I look at work.
But again, to help all of you think about your goals, this realization that all of my Goals have an overall theme, is only possible if you spend the time to assess and reflect. Please do not make Goals for 2024 in a vacuum without thinking about 2023, and even 2022 and 2021. As I have demonstrated over the last several years by putting myself out there as an example, when you spend the time to look backwards before moving forward, your forward process will move more smoothly. You will also make more attainable goals as they build off on one and other over time. It is a marathon, not a sprint. You cannot get to where you want to go with leaps, it takes one step at a time, and not all of them go forward, but more will than not if you are intentional.
At least that is the over all goal for this exercise. I guess we will all see in a year.
Tomorrow, back to more regular programming.
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