Farewell 2014

I’ve stuck with my 2014 resolution of living for the moment, and have changed a number of things this year due to focusing on the present rather than the future. I’m still a reflector though, so the end of year blog post is one thing I have decided to continue. This is my seventh year of doing these annual reviews now – you can see previous ones for 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013.

I haven’t blogged much in 2014. I’ve been spending more of my free time focusing on other areas of my life and have learnt a lot about myself this year. I turned 30 in May, which to some is a scary thing but to me was something I’d been looking forward to for a while – I feel like I’ve been mentally living in my 30s for a long time anyway! I’m feeling quite positive about my 30s – I’ve been on a bit of an exploratory journey already, and hope to continue to do so.

I’ve been eating better and exercising more regularly, and as a result have lost quite a bit of weight this year. I didn’t set myself a specific goal, but just knew I wasn’t happy and wanted to be healthier and fitter. It’s worked really well and I’ve discovered exercise DVDs which I love (I highly recommend Jillian Michaels, most of them are only 20-30mins long so easy to fit into your day, and the progression you see when you stick with it is incredible). I’m taking a bit of a break from exercise over the festive season, but am very much looking forward to getting back into it – it offers great physical and mental benefits for me. I’ve also been doing more cooking and baking this year, and learning more about gluten free ingredients and how they differ from ‘regular’ ingredients (I have coeliac disease so I have to follow a gluten free diet for life). I’ve continued to do crafts, with quite a few knitting projects, a cross stitch project, and some crochet too. I’ve also learnt more about beauty and cosmetics this year, and now actually know what bronzer, blusher, and highlighter do (and why), and am learning how to blend eyeshadow colours. I love playing with make up, trying new skincare products and learning what suits me (and what doesn’t!).

Professionally, it’s been an interesting year too. Work has been fairly busy (particularly the last few months of the year) and at times I have struggled to retain a healthy balance. I’ve had a lot of different projects to juggle, each with their own unique challenges. Each one teaches me something new, but I haven’t had as much of an opportunity to reflect on it before the next challenge (hence not as much blogging).

Some personal highlights of the year have included:

• Developing a full-day practical workshop on planning and facilitating focus groups

I mentioned that in 2013 I’d delivered more workshops, and was pleased with how I had developed skills in designing these. Earlier this year I developed a half day workshop for University of Cambridge libraries on planning and facilitating focus groups. I themed the workshop around chocolate so there were a number of practical activities which used this as a theme, and of course chocolates as an added incentive! I received really positive feedback from the workshop and some commented that they’d like to see this expanded and offered as a full day workshop. I was already planning to do this, so it was good to get confirmation that the half day session worked and could be used to further develop a full day workshop. I did this, and offered it for Evidence Base in September. We were fully booked and again received positive feedback. I have since run the full day workshop for University of Nottingham, a taster session for North West Libraries Interlending Partnership in Manchester, have a full day workshop scheduled for January (which is again fully booked) and have one full day workshop booked for Anglia Ruskin University. I’ve really enjoyed each session, and am looking forward to delivering more in 2015.

• Developing my mentoring skills and supporting CILIP Chartership candidates

I completed my mentor training at the end of 2013 and starter properly mentoring this year. I have two active mentees, and one who’s currently on maternity leave. I’ve really enjoyed the mentoring process and am learning a lot about both myself and my mentoring/coaching skills. I’m learning how to listen more carefully, and how to adapt the guidance I provide based on the needs of each of my mentees. It’s early days so far but going well. I’m very much looking forward to being able to hopefully help them complete the process and become chartered soon.

• Working with CILIP to scope a leadership development programme

The last few months I’ve been working with CILIP on scoping a leadership development programme. Since doing ALA Emerging Leaders myself in 2012, I’ve been keen to see something similar in the UK. There are of course leadership development programmes available, but mostly they are sector specific (i.e. within an organisation, or targeted at a certain sector e.g. Universities). The things I loved about the ALA programme which I felt differentiated it from others was the information on leadership within ALA and a greater understanding of ALA as an organisation, and learning about different working environments within the library and information sector. When I heard CILIP were thinking of developing a leadership development programme I was so pleased, and even more pleased to be invited to help scope the programme. I’ve been doing some research into other similar programmes, and speaking to lots of different people about their ideas via focus groups, interviews, and individual discussions, and just before Christmas I worked with CILIP to form the initial draft programme. It’s been a really positive experience so far, and I’m looking forward to finalising details in 2015.

• Being accepted onto the Clore Leadership Residential Short Course

Leadership development has been quite a strong theme of the year, and is likely to continue for 2015 as I’ll also be developing my own leadership skills via a Clore residential course. The Clore courses are something I’ve had a keen interest in for a while, but the timing has never been right. This year I decided to explore the opportunity and fortunately my employer was happy to support my application. Even more fortunately, the application was successful so I’ll be spending two weeks in February on an intensive residential course. I recently received the programme and some information about others on the course which has got me very excited. It sounds fascinating (though slightly overwhelming!); I’m sure it will be an incredible experience.

What’s next?

In 2015 I hope I can learn techniques to help retain balance across all areas of my life and also protect some down time too as I’ve really come to appreciate the value of that. I’m really pleased with my progress on living more for the moment, but I still have a way to go. I’m not setting any specific resolutions for 2015 but hope to continue to do things I enjoy, see people I enjoy spending time with, and trying new things to learn more about what makes me happy.

I hope you all enjoyed 2014 and have a happy and healthy 2015.

By the way, the cocktail I linked to last year we had as 2014 began, and it was delicious! I fully intend to make it again tonight and would highly recommend it if you light sweet (well, very sweet!), fruity drinks. Cheers!

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