Last year, I did pretty well, keeping my New Year’s resolutions.
I feel that I did increase my fitness – I made 10,000 steps almost every day of the year. I started a strength routine that — while patchy — showed me that strength training is important to my well-being. I achieved my Kayak levels 1 and 2 from the wonderful instructional team (that’s you, Aaron and Isa!) at Kayak Ontario. I started taking lessons shooting skeet and sporting clays at the Hamilton Gun Club, discovering an unexpected fascination with shotgun sports.
I did well on the writing front as well, I co-published a number of pieces with Dr. Mark Dottori, APR and Prof. Martin Waxman, APR, including a special piece in a volume edited by the Museum of Public Relations on AI and the legacy of Edward Bernays for the 100th anniversary of the publication of his classic book, Crystallizing Public Relations.
I ended this year in a pretty good, but sick place – fairly fit, although sick with a terrible cold. No toasting 2024 with alcohol for me – it was just some cough syrup! This reinforced the focus on well-being for 2024.
New Year’s Resolutions 2024
This year’s resolutions look a lot like last year’s, but more specific.
- Focus on fitness and sports. I will be turning 50 in late January, so I want to make sure that I feel strong in this coming decade. That will mean a special focus on weights and strength. I don’t care about physique, particularly (although seeing some abs would be nice!) – I am much more focused on functional strength. Another focus will be to become better at kayaking, maybe even earn my Paddle Canada level 3 certification. Certainly, I would like to learn to roll a kayak properly. Finally, I really want to become proficient at shotgun sports: skeet and sporting clays. Ever since my early days as a competitive fencer, I have enjoyed the martial arts. I look forward to purchasing a nice over-under shotgun and many hours of deep concentration at the range. I include trying to play the piano more here, too, although I always seem to fail at that one.
- Writing and Public Intellectualism. I got my writing engine revving last year. This year I hope to put my writing engine into high gear. I have some great ideas and insights about public relations, communications management, artificial intelligence and digital technology. I also have a lot to say about communications metrics, evaluation and strategy. I commit to writing something of value each day. The other piece is public intellectualism – in 2023, I restarted the public speaking and executive education practice that I had neglected for many years. In 2024, I hope to do more executive education and maybe restart the public media commentary that I haven’t done for many years.
So that’s it! I hope you enjoy a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year 2024 full of peace, serenity and exciting new opportunities!
