#Oneword 2020

And just like that, we find ourselves ringing in, not only a new year, but a new decade.  Last night at midnight, as the multi-coloured ball dropped in New York City, the revelers were adorned with 2020 glasses, the streets were lined with 2020 balloons and multiple images of 2020 were sprayed across the television screen.  We all knew that this next year was going to be 2020 ~ it naturally follows 2019. But there was something about seeing it so vividly displayed that solidified the reality of a new decade.

For the past few years I’ve committed to selecting #oneword as my first blog post to ring in the new year and in this case, a new decade.  With the images of 2020 still fresh in my mind, I couldn’t help but make the connection to both the popular ABC newsmagazine show 20/20 and the sharpness or clarity of vision that is associated with 20/20 vision.  Ah, should my #oneword for 2020 be VISION?  Although I could find a number of connections and possible tangents to explore with that word, I wanted to narrow the focus and be more precise. Plus, I learned from my #oneword last year, “PRESENT”, that selecting a word that has both the capability of being a verb and a noun brings a richness to the selection and creates the conditions for me to revisit it multiple times throughout the year within various contexts.  As I begin to reread the first few lines of my post, transforming a few of the words and playing with punctuation my #oneword seems to magically jump off the page.

For the 2020 year my #oneword is going to be FOCUS. I want to purposefully narrow the work that we’re doing at school and focus on a few initiatives and do those well ~ instead of spreading ourselves and our efforts too thinly.
A few weeks ago I had bookmarked an article that peaked my interest, “Focus is the Gateway to Business Success” by Dr. Jim Taylor. Within the article, Taylor shares, “Focus is so important because it is the gateway to all thinking: perception, memory, learning, reasoning, problem solving, and decision making.”  He also provides his readers with a few tips bring focus back into focus.

1) Declutter your mind and your work space

2) Master your technology

3) Practice the 4 Ps ~ Perform, process, present and productivity

Lately I’ve been finding it challenging to stay focused on any one task for any length of time.  Even today as I’m working on this post, my phone is close at hand and each notification draws my attention from my laptop to the possibility of something more interesting on another device. Hence the reason that it has taken most of the evening to pen this post.

As we venture into this new decade, which holds limitless possibilities, my goal is to purposefully embrace those possibilities with both precision and focus so that we can yield meaningful and measureable results.

As you ponder the possibilities of this new decade, what will your Focus be?

Come write with me…..

3 thoughts on “#Oneword 2020

  1. I like your #OneWord choice, Sue. Finding focus is something all of us can benefit from. As you apply it to your work, those in the @SACTVDSB community will appreciate the manageable skills and strategies you all endeavor to do, as you move toward student achievement and well being.
    In life, focus certainly guards us from
    exhaustion and becoming overwhelmed.
    Thanks for sharing!
    I’m thinking my 2020 word will be acceptance.

  2. Happy New Decade. Well put…. focus and vision go well together. Reminds me of the word present. Not like the gift kind but the in the moment kind. Although, one could say being is the present is a present since it allows the mind to focus on the now instead of the past or future. Great thoughts, thank you.

  3. Great post Sue and wonderful choice of word! I may now have to find a new one. You have so eloquently penned your blog about the choice. My blog draft has a few similar ideas, but will get rewritten now 😜 either entirely about a new word, or to better explain how this one fits my needs for the year.

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