Year notes 2021
Welcome back everyone, and a Happy New Year to you all. Blwyddyn Newydd Dda! I am something of a sceptic when it comes to New Year’s Resolutions. But I have made one this year to do more writing, hence these Year notes. And, to be fair, the 2020 version helped me put a wrap on a year where rather a lot happened. Am hoping for the same this year!
The first thing which strikes me on reflection is that a new role as a consultant and interim has taught me a lot. It stretched my learning on several perspectives and refreshed who I am, professionally. I’ve enjoyed that. There is plenty to assign to the annual CPD list and things that are useful to know. I have been able to “scale up” that knowledge to larger businesses, ie clients old and new. The thing which surprised me was the extent to tip top organisation skills are essential. Juggling a client portfolio has been interesting at times. I have learned that it is important to have specific time allocated to that in the working week at some point. It was stressful trying to play catch up! Others have already written about the importance of self-employed people networking. It is important to build the community. And I’ve learnt from trial and error what things I enjoy doing as a consultant and what I won’t do again. There’s plenty to explore here — a further blog on this beckons.
Secondly, I have enjoyed working in England and for an international client this year. The broader perspective has done me good. It is only a small sample of course, so I am cautious about generalising here. But there are differences, and I have noticed a change in my communication skills at times. This is a very good thing. I have learnt the hard way to beware of overusing your communication strengths. They can become weaknesses if overdone. It’s one of the benefits of working in diverse groups, as it happens. It forces the communicator to pay more attention to what they are saying.
Finally, I have noticed that towards the end of the year the quality of my writing has gone down somewhat. I have also been quieter on the blogging front. It is not unconnected, I think, to the quality of my attention span. My younger self could happily write away while the rugby was on, or eat chips and write history essays simultaneously. But not any more. Christmas 2021, with Omicron over our collective shoulders, hasn’t helped much. Writing is part of my self-expression, and I hate the feeling of not writing for long stretches. Writing this, I realise it matters to me a lot. I would argue writing well is like many other skills. Use it, or lose it. And it is probably better thought of as a lifelong goal than an identity. But I’m also hopeful it will recover though. The mind still knows how to do it, I need to create some space to allow it to happen.
On a more personal note, I am super grateful for every moment I have managed to spend out in nature this year. I have not travelled far this year, it has mostly been tramping through old haunts. I’ve not seen wildebeest tramping majestically through the plains and not uncovered any undiscovered glaciers. But it has done me a power of good. The fox I saw yesterday was commonplace, and still magical in its own special way. And I am hoping you manage to find some time in nature this year, to heal and to grow, to recover from Covid, or simply blow off some steam. A Happy and Fruitful New Year to everyone.
