January in February

I don’t know about you but 2022 feels like I’m getting shot out of a cannon. It’s all good, don’t get me wrong but man has the year begun at warp speed.  I was fully prepared to restart my blog about the new year and all that and then woke up and it was Valentine’s Day.

It wasn’t like it happened to me; it’s just that January was demanding.  We rang in the year with friends at our place on New Year’s which was great fun. Back to work on January 4th and kick off the year with the addition of two new key executive team members in an off-site meeting four days later. Finalize budgets, comp & commission plans, and hold board meetings to ratify key decisions that set the year in motion. Finalize plans made in Q4 that became committed with the new budget in January. Then there was the on-again-off-again of Omicron – could we bring our entire company together or do we wait?  Do we hold February client meetings or push into March? The answer was the latter for both but setting plans and then changing them kept my brain nimble but my soul a little weary.  We had reviews to wrap up, clients to meet with, and the day-to-day that goes with running a company. We had several teammates who came down with Covid and thankfully recovered; another lost an immediate family member. Backing up and supporting each other takes a village in a small company. And this has all been in the last month!  It’s been a wild ride at work and that’s not even the home front. 

I am still wrapping up projects on our new house, fixing a roof leak that emerged with the monsoon-like rains of December. And yesterday the range we’ve waited 6 months for came with a big dent right up top – so now we are waiting for replacement parts and the return of the installers. I could go on. These are first-world problems and they are trivial in the scheme of what people around this crazy planet are going through, but still, they take time and energy and headspace that requires positivity. 

I’ve been on the move too. I live in Pebble Beach and in January I was in the SF Bay Area, Las Vegas, and Santa Barbara. By Superbowl Sunday we’ve had friends here too -  from Santa Barbara, Napa Valley, the Peninsula, and Marin County. I love it. Life has been full and fun but I’m ready for things to slow down a bit.    

Let’s just say the month flew by. It was demanding. I was productive. And I’ve done my darndest to follow my own advice still banning the word #busy.’ Putting the devices down before bed and turning to a good book. Something I need to do more of since my sleep is a bit more fitful these past couple of weeks. Right now I’m in the middle of Fresh Water for Flowers by Valerie Perrin. An international best-seller it’s fascinating. It quiets the mind. It’s fuel for the soul. 

In 2022 I’m committed to my mantra Design Your Life. I’ll share more soon.  And I promise to be in touch cause man 2020 and 2021 were a roller coaster. They say the year of the Tiger is a hold-on-to-your-hat year.  I have a feeling the Bengals are going to win Sunday……How’s your year going? What are your commitments? Stop by and say hello or email me at anthea@antheas.com.