It’s early January. The fast-paced holidays, which were a welcome break from our fast-paced lives, are a fading memory. Faced with catching up from the holiday break, we try to resist jumping back in at the full speed that was 2015. We don’t feel the need to make formal New Year’s Resolutions, but have the urge to simply start the year fresh, new, maybe differently. Even if we don’t call them resolutions, many of us quietly resolve to operate with more intention, to be less frenetic. We’ve read the articles about our digital habits and lives. That we are more and more cut off from each other and more connected to our devices. There’s even an orthopedic malady related to the constant craning of our necks to our cell phones. But change is hard and we can be easily tugged back into our old routines.

As a consultant, I hear this refrain from leaders often: “I just don’t have time to think anymore. I am always just doing.” And we push back as consultants and encourage thoughtful, strategic planning, with the accompanying tools, and our services to help support and guide the process. We know (and you know) that thoughtful planning and execution will not only result in a better product, but also, that people will be happier and more productive if they are allowed the time and permission to think, reflect, and create.

So I wish you all a prosperous 2016 and encourage you to put an electronic note on your electronic calendar that is synced with your multiple devices that asks you, monthly, how well you are doing creating space to think, to plan, to be intentional. And if you are a leader, how you are assuring that happens for the people who look to you for guidance. And we promise to spend the year posting blogs that give you the tools, ideas, or motivation to do that. My next blog will have the five tips you can use to insure your work with any consultant is successful.

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