It’s been two weeks into the new year, and I realize I’m repeating the same pattern.
I’m following the same routine at the start of 2025 that I’ve been following every year for years. I begin by reviewing the previous year, which is then followed by beating myself up for the things I didn’t finish or accomplish, and then I dive into planning, blueprinting, and time blocking the year ahead. I’ve downloaded a new workbook and bought two new books that I’m sure will be better than the ones I downloaded and purchased last year. Because last year’s books obviously didn’t work.
So far, for two entire weeks, I’ve spent all my free time, which consists of all the time I’m not at work, or cleaning, or shopping, or cooking, or doing the laundry, or praying for my two adult children, or pretending to enjoy watching football with my husband. Side bar: I have a note posted on the fridge demanding NO TV MONDAY – THURSDAY. This mandate gives me something, even a small something, to look forward to. TGIF! I can watch TV! But I haven’t watched any TV; I’ve spent all my free time poring over my spreadsheets and workbook pages.
This routine, yet again my attempt to force myself to figure out how to do more in less time, is taking up all of my time. Even if I come up with the best vision and a million-dollar idea, an idea so great others will be amazed with my brilliance that I’ve come up with the answer to solve the world’s problems—I’m talking Madame Curie or Mahatma Gandhi-level ideas here— vision without action is just a pipe dream. And guess what, taking action takes TIME!

Every year, I think I’m going to do better. I vow to do better! I remind myself that nobody can do it for me. I play my walk-on song to pump myself up. One of my all-time favorite songs is Good Morning by Max Frost. Good Morning is such a happy, motivating song, a real January-type song. By October, my walk-on song has been something closer to Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive. By November, I’m in a panic … and desperate to finish at least one of the big things on my list.
Last year, I wrote about wasting weekends in my story JUST START, admitting my propensity to be overly busy without really doing anything but making lists. And the fact that spending all my time plotting and planning meant I didn’t have any TIME to actually DO! My glorious, perfectly written lists and color-coded time sheets lingered in notebooks and on clipboards while I went through my days reacting. Reacting to whatever landed in my inbox or turned up at my door.
Now, I’m not saying you shouldn’t have a plan; even the idea of not having a plan makes me start to hyperventilate. Of course you must have a plan. As Yogi Berra once said, “If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” I’m telling you my story as more of a cautionary tale. Perhaps you will recognize or relate to my struggles.
Another year is beginning. Let’s wipe the slate clean and begin again by setting our goals for the day instead of letting the day direct us! Let’s call on the power of mindfulness, which incidentally was the word of the year in 2016. It just goes to show this struggle has been going on for a long time. Let’s spend our time with intention this year, knowing when to say “yes” and when to say “no”.
There is no magic formula nor are there any Cliff Notes. We all have the same amount of time in each day, week, and year. The idea of work-life balance suggests that they are equal parts that can be balanced, but I haven’t found that to be the case. Instead, let’s say “yes” and find the time to do the things we want to do.
With that in mind, this year I’m smashing up my own word of the year–Expeditionvision.