Q1 is over! No fooling there. I do a pretty good job of examining all of my ingrained habits, to make sure they still work for me. At the end of each quarter I feel a surge of unnameable anxiety… and I am asking myself this time if that’s for any good reason at all.

This is where I landed: Yes, a small amount of extra awareness is super helpful at the end of Q1. Not overwhelming anxiety, not a shame spiral, not self-flagellation. Just a bump of awareness, followed by commitment to insight. I started the year with enormous ambitions, specific projects and goals, and a one-year focus. This is a perfect time for me to take stock of my progress so far, and make some adjustments.

Celebrate

This Friday, I’ll publish my 8th and final episode of season 1 of my new podcast, Instructor Notes.
I’m on track to launch my YouTube channel before summer, which I think is the missing piece of my business’ social media landscape.
I hosted gatherings at my house five times in Q1 and it was such a blessing to have more frequent contact with some of my friends and family.
I have written morning pages every. single. day this year.
Two unexpected opportunities have presented themselves to me, and I’m in the process of evaluating where and how they may fit. I hope they fit!

Needs Attention

My social media use has fallen off. I think I have figured out how I want to use LinkedIn and Facebook though, so it won’t be too tough to try these modified approaches for the next quarter and see how they work. Weekly blogging was going well until it wasn’t, and I hope to find my footing in the next 3 months.
My drawing has also tapered off. Hand lettering still OK. I’m super excited to be a patron of Drawn Together; and the two illustrators who lead it have been very helpful getting my brain and inspiration back on track.
Decluttering has just stalled out completely. Maybe it wasn’t the best season.

Regrouping

I was overly eager to do all the things in the first three months of the year. I’ve been more realistic in spreading out the major projects through the remaining 9 months of the year.
There seem to be many lessons for me this year in trusting myself completely.
While I love annual planning, I wonder if I will benefit from less of a “new year, new me” approach and more of an ongoing evolution / revolution that recalibrates every quarter. It would make January of each year feel less like a grand adventure and more like “I planned this and soon it will be here.”

How about you? How was your Q1?