Liz Armbrecht

In December, I sat down at work to write up my annual review at work. This can be a daunting endeavor, because our small but mighty team tackles a lot of work over the course of 365 days, and there is a lot to report!

After writing out (no lie) 6 1/2 pages of what had happened in 2024, I then had to think through what I wanted to accomplish in 2025.

At the recommendation of the Full Focus method, which is perhaps a little cult-y but VERY effective, I like to choose 8 things to focus on each year. Their philosophy? if you make it through the 8, you can always add more! (I haven’t yet; eight is plenty!)

After I brainstormed 7 goals, I got stuck on my eighth. We had a tough year in our office: We had an organization-wide technology change that severely disrupted EVERYONE it touched, customers and employees alike. It was chaotic, and, while we knew it was coming and expected some disruption, the scale of what actually happened took us by surprise.

So, in truth, the first 7 goals were easy because they were similar to some of the goals I set out for myself at the beginning of 2024 that simply never got touched while we dropped everything to manage the technology change instead.

It came to me very suddenly: I need a BEING goal for 2025. Sure, we expect to have a more stable year in our office this year. But who knows what’s coming down the line? Some things are still settling from the pandemic. The world feels unsteady and unkind. I might get an itch to do something wild in my personal life.

So, if I set a goal for how to show up instead of one more thing to DO, I think I might be setting myself up for better success.

I picked “Show up with joy, love, curiosity and imagination every day so I can improve customers’ and colleagues’ experiences” for my eighth goal:

JOY reminds me to make sure I’ve got something fun in the schedule each day, even if it’s just doing the Wordle or having a 3 p.m. coffee break.

LOVE reminds me to bring an understanding of everyone’s inherent worth and value, just by virtue of being human, to every interaction.

CURIOSITY reminds me to investigate, explore, and learn. That’s always worth the time.

IMAGINATION reminds me to dream, wonder, and create. I feel the most like me when I’m doing these things!

How does a “being” goal sound to you in 2025?