A gentle assessment of 2013

I’ve periodically been told that I can be too blunt, too judgemental, and too impatient. I am definitely my own worst critic. These qualities don’t exactly bode well for a compassionate self assessment of the past years’ progress towards my long term goals, but I’ve been working towards treating myself, and others, with more patience and empathy. As the year winds down, I’ve been doing some (gentle!) reflecting on what went right, and what went not so right in 2013. I already have several long term goals in place, so I don’t feel a need to post 2014 specific resolutions, but it’s my hope that this (gentle!) analysis might help clean up a few of my goals, and might help you all think about some of yours.

I often think about my life in compartmentalized sections. For me (a dancer/choreographer/director/business owner), these sections break down something like this:

1) General Health/Fitness level
2) Personal financial health
3) the state of my business
4) artistic growth/development
5) relationships (familial, romantic, friends)
6) Personal projects

These are in no particular order, and I think they’re pretty applicable to most artistic types (or almost anyone, if you sub in “life passion” of choice for item four.

All of my short, medium, and long term goals fall into one of these categories. In fact, I have short, medium, and long term goals IN every single category. I won’t bore you all with the particulars of each- but I think it’s a good idea to think about the arenas of your life that are important, and either come up with a plan to make those arenas even better, or a plan to ensure they stay strong and stable.

This year, I’m particularly proud of the progress I’ve made with my financial health, and my artistic career. I’ve worked on several great productions, and I’ve laid the groundwork for several other wonderful 2014 projects. I also finished paying off my student loan, opened my first retirement account (hey, I’m an artist, it took a little while!), and am completely debt free.

My relationships and personal projects have been mixed, and all a little too involved to write about here. My business and personal health, the two categories I would say I’ve felt really great about in the past, have definitely suffered. My sleep schedule is much more irregular due to all my wonderful artistic projects, and this has definitely resulted in less working out, less healthy meals, and less rest in general. And my business has also taken a bit of a hit, again due to artistic commitments.

As I write this, I’m realizing that an appreciation of progress, a bit more gratitude towards myself and others, and a mindset of balance can definitely help my 2014. Oh, and I lied- I do have one resolution. I’d like to publicly declare that I will complete my chinup challenge (3 full pullups, 3 military pullups, and 3 dips with no assistance) in 2014. How about you? Any unexpected discoveries? Realizations that you have “areans of life” that you consider important but don’t really have a plan for? Random declarations? I’d love to hear em!

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