Recalibrating your personal and professional goals for the new year
⌛ By Kaylin R. Staten ⌛
Many of us are facing the more ugly sides of burnout. After almost two years of a global pandemic, it’s easy to see why all of us are individually and collectively exhausted. Whether you have had to work more hours, juggle your parenting and work responsibilities, or just feel disenfranchised with life in general, it can be a real struggle to figure out your next steps.
I took off work most of December in order to plan for 2022 and reset. Sidenote: My body was not cooperative with this decision, and I was under the weather for three out of the four weeks of December. What turned out as intentions to plan, dream, and set actions into motion turned into feeling and being behind in January.
While I do not have recalibration figured out in its most cohesive form, it is the major theme of 2022. Whether you have a “Word of the Year” or not, it can be helpful to think about your work or an overall feeling you would like to achieve this year.
What are some ways you can incorporate recalibration into your everyday life?
Think about work-life integration versus balance.
When I first started Hourglass Media in 2015, I was a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed 26-year-old with dreams for miles. I was single and could devote every waking moment to my full-time job and blossoming company. Less than a year after starting my company, I met my now husband. Now, almost seven years after founding Hourglass Media, I crave work-life integration. I used to say “balance,” but balance does not bode well for people with perfectionistic tendencies. As we all know, especially during a pandemic, there will be days and weeks where you are heavily in tune with your work. On the opposite side of the token, there will also be times when your home life beckons you to prioritize it.
Needless to say, all of it can be pretty complicated. If you’re anything like me, you feel pulled into the direction of whatever isn’t your priority at the time. Nothing showed me this quite like parenthood, especially new parenthood. Don’t get me wrong, I love spending time with my son and cherish each moment (even the now cranky, temper-tantrum moments); however, there are times in which a deadline looms over my head, and I can’t wait for him to nap or for help so I can focus on work. When I am working, I am always daydreaming of being able to relax and
It can be a vicious cycle. One of my primary themes of 2022 is working on acceptance. Acceptance of myself and my limitations. Acceptance of help. Acceptance of not being able to change people and situations, even when I really want to. Acceptance of the ebbs and flows of work and life. At my core, I want several things, and integration versus balance is the only way I will have those instrumental aspects of my life.
Only focus on one personal and one professional goal. Also, limit your objectives.
I have always struggled with wanting to achieve too much. While this can be an endearing and successful life path, it’s not always wonderful for my holistic health. For instance, I painstakingly calculated and recalculated my GPA in college to ensure that I was still on track to earn summa cum laude on my degree. While I achieved that goal, it came with a price: time spent with friends, relaxation, self-acceptance, making memories other than career and school ones, etc. I have also always added a thousand items to my annual to-do list. While many people have resolutions, I have my entire life mapped out to the second.
And it gets really, really exhausting. You lose your joy and the general luster of life. I have been so bogged down with my schedule and aspirations that I have lost sight of what truly matters to me: my life’s mission of to live what I love despite fear. During my brief hiatus, I asked myself, “What really matters to me and pertains to my life’s mission?” I vowed then to not take on any professional or personal goal or objective without first asking that question. You learn a lot about yourself during this process.
I narrowed down my focuses to the following:
Personal goal: Improve my holistic health.
Professional goal: Recalibrate and continue to grow Hourglass Media.
As you know, I am a stickler for the difference between goals and objectives. Goals are more broad and a vision for your future, while objectives are the road map for how to achieve that overarching goal. (Check out my SMART objectives blog post to see how to craft your objectives.)
Here are two examples of objectives tied to my goals (not revealing actual numbers because a girl has to have some mystery):
Improve my holistic health —> Lose x of pounds by the end of 2022.
Recalibrate and continue to grow Hourglass Media —> Gain 3-5 new clients and earn $x by the end of 2022.
It’s also important to not have an endless supply of objectives. Focus on 3-5 objectives for each goal. You can pare down the objectives to action steps.
Have a routine and stick to it.
While being trapped by a schedule and not being flexible can be a bad thing, it’s also vital to have an actual routine so you can ensure that you actually work toward your goals and objectives. My husband gave me an Apple Watch for Christmas (which I appropriately named U.S.S. Time Stone, for all of my fellow Marvel fans out of there). I have been tracking my sleep patterns, and let me tell you… they are all over the place! In order to reach our two goals for the year, we need to be consistent and reliable with ourselves, even when we don’t feel motivated to do so. This means that I need to get enough sleep to be able to conquer the next day. I also need to maintain a work schedule that will allow me to spend as much time with my family. (And I did decide to work part-time in 2022, at least for the time being.)
Every little step in the right direction helps. And, of course, there will be days that we don’t accomplish anything and are off our routine. It’s OK to be flexible. As many of you already know, I am very open about my struggles with anxiety and depression. When you have a mental health issue, the odds are already stacked against you. It’s so easy to procrastinate, to talk yourself out of what you feel like you don’t deserve, and to give in to other people’s demands. It’s extra important to stick to a regular schedule with work, exercise, quality time, relaxation, sleep, and whatever else matters to you.
You can always reassess at certain points in the year to see what is working and what isn’t. You don’t have to stay married to an idea or goal that just isn’t working. Be honest and transparent with yourself. And if you’re a professional communicator, treat yourself like you would a client, project, or campaign. We tend to get lost in the weeds because we are helping everyone else. Take a moment and evaluate you and your own Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
Realize that there will be off days.
For all of my high achievers out there: Have you ever felt that if you take a break that you will lose all traction, motivation, and hope? You know I have been there without me even having to divulge that information. I sit there, wishing I didn’t need to eat, sleep, shower, take a breather, etc. This, my friends, is when you flirt with a god complex. Each of us needs to fulfill our basic needs, as well as other needs, in order to be the best versions of ourselves. Without taking care of ourselves, we cannot help others, work to our fullest potential, and accomplish our goals and objectives. Even as I type this, my inner voice is laughing at me. She is saying, “How can you tell other people what to do when you can’t do these things yourself?” I wish I didn’t have to, I don’t know, be HUMAN, but you have to practice self-care in order to recalibrate.
Realizing that off days will happen is also part of work-life integration and recalibration. You cannot be your “best” self at all times. You are not a machine, and even if you were, they break down sometimes, too. Have grace with yourself during these moments. Believe me, I am writing that just as much for me as I am for you. It’s a small, gentle reminder that we can accept the day as it comes and still have a master plan. All we can do, especially during the uncertainty of the world today, is try our best and recalibrate as needed.
Kaylin R. Staten, APR, is an award-winning, accredited public relations practitioner and writer based in Huntington, WV, with 18 years of professional communications experience. As CEO and founder of Hourglass Media, she uses her compassionate spirit and expertise to delve into the heart of clients’ stories. She is a mental health advocate, wife, mom, and Leia Organa aficionado. Connect with Kaylin on LinkedIn.