A New Beginning for a New Year

A New Beginning for a New Year

By Stephanie Wilson, TuscBDD Board President

I used to wrestle with the whole idea of New Year's resolutions. I clearly see the benefits of resolutions. Why not establish goals for the coming the year and set some focus? However, typically each July, I would guiltily remember the resolutions that have been placed on the back burner with the busyness of everyday life! However, over the years, I have learned a bit more about appropriate goal setting. I have learned that it is helpful to allow myself some flexibility regarding how my goals are achieved. For instance, a few years ago, my husband and I sought to lessen the number of times that we would eat out. We would go along well for a period of time, but, inevitably, we would have a crazy week and an extra run to Pizza Hut was needed for sanity's sake! I've learned that instead of allowing a crazy week to derail me from my goals; it is important to remain flexible and account for the fact that sometimes the ways in which you achieve your goals will look differently than what you may have imagined back at the start of the New Year!

I was reminded of the importance of flexibility at the January Board Meeting for TuscBDD. At this meeting, members of the administrative team shared an updated version of the 2014-2017 Strategic Plan to the Board Members. The administrative team mentioned that all of the goals in the plan remain the same; however, some of the ways in which these goals are being accomplished have changed to better reflect current activities. For example, in the Strategic Plan, TuscBDD prioritized increasing partnerships with local school districts. The plan mentioned that we would accomplish this priority through meeting regularly with the Educational Service Center (ESC) in New Philadelphia.

Throughout the past year, our commitment to this important goal has remained constant, but we are accomplishing this task by partnering with the Public Education Collaborative Committee. This committee, consisting of educational leaders from across the county, is in the process of developing a comprehensive education model which will enable public schools to better serve students with complex needs regardless of which school district they call home. When the Strategic Plan was drafted, we did not think to describe this innovative model as a way to reach this goal, but with the help of some additional partnerships this new model was formed.

In many ways, I believe goal setting or resolution making is the same. Set goals to help you chart your course, but give yourself some leeway and flexibility in regards to how those goals are accomplished because some of the best paths have not yet been discovered!

Thank you for taking the time to read this post!

Stay Warm!

Stephanie

Wed, Feb 3rd, 2016