Reflections of 2012

New Years Resolutions. Most of us make them and have broken them by now. I do think think that constantly re-evaluating your positions and goals is a good thing, but part of that is thinking back to the last year to see what, if anything changed and why. I’ll use myself as an example, especially since lots of things changed from January 2012 to January 2013 for me; most of them positive!

Last year at this time, I decided that I was going to do a few things. One of them was to audition and make a pro or semipro dance team within Dallas. That is easier said than done. While there are a lot of teams to audition for here, there is A LOT of competition. There are also unwritten rules, a component of networking and things that you just can’t know going into it, unless you’ve grown up in this area as a dancer. I auditioned and auditioned and auditioned. I even got to the point of wanting to quit. I would go to each audition optimistic, knowing that I had learned one more thing to do and then being cut fairly early on in the process. I would come home crying and spend the day wallowing just so that I could come up with a new game plan for the next audition, find out when the next prep classes were and try again. Then, it finally happened and I made a dance team for the Texas Tornado! I am still currently a Texas Tornado Siren Dancer (get it, haha) and my life changed DRAMATICALLY after that day. 

Since making that team, my resolutions of getting in shape and eating better kicked into high gear. While I was doing a normal version of that, being on a dance team that is very high visibility enhances those goals to a whole new level. It is required that I attend at least 3 Jay’s Bootcamps or Crossfit workouts a week, and in my off time, go to dance classes or hit the gym. With a schedule like that, I had no choice but to change my eating habits to keep up. I thanked my director after the first game for requiring this, because I just wouldn’t have been able to dance consistently for 3-4 hours; which is required on game days. 

In addition to that big change, I also wanted in January 2012 to become better at my full time position as an Assessment Consultant (HR related). My organization, BHI was acquired by Kenexa in November 2011 and I saw it as an opportunity to learn from some of the best currently practicing Industrial Organizational Psychologists. I knew of the head of my department before even starting due to his vast research body and contributions to our field. Needless to say, I was intimidated, but motivated to do more than I had been doing. I learned to speak up and take initiative in your career (even though I knew I had to, it was difficult to execute). I learned to coordinate with my VERY competent coworkers to learn from them. I had my highest acceptance rate to our annual conference, SIOP EVER this year, thanks to coordinating with my coworkers! I also learned that I could have real friends at work (something that I had never done). I feel like I’ve come so far professionally thanks to my organization and my coworkers in the past year. I also feel like I’ve done this in my own way, rather than following a strict path. I made my career my own this year. 

Those are just two examples of an overarching thing that I wanted to do in 2012. That is TAKING CONTROL of my life. That is, figuring out what I want out of my life and doing things to get me there. It isn’t always easy and I felt like giving up multiple times, but the reward was so worth every time I felt down and got hurt. 

I challenge y’all to look back at your 2012 and figure out what worked for you and what didn’t. If nothing changed, why not. If something did change, what can you do to facilitate positive change? Cheers to a wonderful 2013!