Photo by Steven VanDesande Jr on Unsplash
Welcome to 2018! We hope 2017 was as prosperous as you would have liked and wish you more prosperity in the upcoming year. Celebrations, fireworks and fanfare aside, we hope that coming into the new year sparks a vigor in your life that will coast you toward your next station in life. Our thoughts in a previous new year’s post always ring true…
But what about the scratches, scrapes and hard times over the last year? A failed diet, a lost relationship, a quit workout regimen, a return to bad habits… do we toss that all aside? If we asked you to recap last year, would you gloss over your missteps and only highlight your wins? What’s your story of 2017? In the end, the story you TELL and the one you BELIEVE is all up to you. Development, however, can only come with both the good AND the bad, the ups AND the downs. To that end, MilitaryMentors hopes that your story can be refined in 2018 – you begin writing the next chapter today. We’re here to help you along that journey.
One of the ways to reflect over your journey is to have someone you can confide in – a mentor. If you want to be a ‘new you’ this year, how do you view the ‘old you’? Who can help you parse that out? Do you know where you want to be this year? What are your goals and aspirations? If you’re already there, can already do so, and maybe even have a mentor in your life to help, I must ask if YOU are mentoring someone else along the way. How are you helping the next person remember their 2017 and motivating them toward their goals for 2018? Take the time to reflect on your mentorship needs and goals for the year; seek out a mentor and/or a mentee in your life if you don’t have them.
A new year’s post wouldn’t be right without our own reflection! There was a lot of transition for us this year as Jim left the Army, moved to Seattle, and started work in a totally new job. Chevy completed his fourth deployment, returning Memorial Day weekend after spending time in Tajikistan, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, U.A.E., and Iraq. We both look forward to your journey’s over this next year!
Our most popular adventure this year was our #MilitaryMentors #ABookAMonth challenge (see summer post here). We challenged leaders to be readers, pushing the status quo of only 40% of us reading a book after high school. It started out only as a posting on our Facebook page in January, pushing viewers to take up the mantle of reading at least a book of their choice and posting about it throughout the year. It was extremely successful, garnering shares, likes, pics, links, and multiple reposts throughout 2017. The #ABookAMonth challenge highlighted many different genres, authors, tips and lessons learned. It was also fun, educational and enduring. We hope that we helped craft some new professional development habits. Right behind that was our day-long leadership symposium at the Airborne and Special Operations Museum near Fort Bragg, NC. We paired with PROMOTE for this awesome mentorship experience. We had special guest speakers, subject matter experts on mentorship and inclusion, a diverse senior leader panel, and over 50 participants throughout the day. We look forward to doing the similar events in the near future.
We slowed down the blog a bit this year, but take a look at our top three posts:
Don’t Put the Cart Before the Horse (guest post by Kevin Lewis)
Infectious Leadership (guest post by John Williams)
Our options for this year are similar to yours – open and hopeful. Our eyes are wide eyed and our tails are bushy, lol. We will continue to connect with others, be it fellow professional organizations, internet users, or folks in person. We want you to connect with others as well.
Start a conversation that will spark a transformation today!