Now is the time to develop a personal goal based on past reflection. We have so much to learn from our experience and from others, yet we often don’t create the space to do so.

We asked our community to share their New Year’s re-Solutions. Not to make a “resolution,” like most people do in the traditional sense, but to look for meaningful goals and solutions based on the reflections of the previous year.

Here are some of the questions we asked our team: 

• What worked for you in 2014 that you will do more of or continue to do in 2015?
• What is the most valuable tip you learned in 2014 that you can share that will help others?
• What will you focus on learning, improving, expanding, and evolving in 2015?
• How well have you balanced different areas of your life (i.e., work, family, friendships, mental health, financial health, physical health), and what can you add, remove or adjust to create more balance?

Below are some of our favorite responses:

• Check email only two times a day versus all day long; stop the equivalent of going to your mailbox continuously 8 hours a day.
• Don’t open an email unless you are prepared to respond – archive, delete or turn emails into tasks. Handle emails only once.
• Make a habit of keeping all electronic devices charged; purchase car chargers as well as back up charger batteries.
• Back up your electronic files regularly!
• Buy 2 of items that you never want to run out of.
• Review your calendar the night before to prepare for meetings.
• Prepare yourself and all meeting attendees for meetings.
• Be selective about meetings; compress meetings to 45 minutes versus one hour.
• Ask for feedback; routinely run through what worked, what didn’t and what could be possible.
• Keep meeting participants to the items on the agenda.
• Make To-Do lists and assign the tasks to actual times on your calendar.
• Schedule time to clean up at the end of the day, so your workspace is organized when you arrive in the morning.
• Clarify expectations and contract for deadlines.
• Schedule learning time to ensure you create space to stay current in your field or on task with development goals.
• Take the stairs.
• Stay positive.
• Reduce carbs and replace with salads and more vegetables.
• Wear an exercise band and increase movement by walking. Walking clears your mind and the device on your wrist is a constant reminder to get moving!
• Ask parents who have children in the grade above your child, what they would have liked to have known or what tips they can share about the next grade.
• Focus on one thing at a time.
• Be more flexible and be open to different approaches.
• If a task takes less than 5 minutes, do it now, versus waiting until later.
• Schedule time to build or refresh your internal and external network.