I was reading a post on the Art of Nonconformity blog (see blogs I read in the sidebar at right) a while ago about How to Conduct Your Own Annual Review. I admit my analytical, business-y side (is that my left or right brain?) was intrigued, evenly mildly excited, by the idea. After all if you don’t plan your work then you’re just planning to fail, right? (Insert peppy, motivational voiceover here.)

I worked with his spreadsheet and began setting goals for the year. Some were fun — more students, more Songtaneous, more singing! Some were less fun — more (full-time?) work, more exercise, less spending.

Truly, I was pretty much in love with the whole concept until I started trying to come up with my theme (think of it as a keyword) for the year. “This is the summary of the whole year – what’s it going to look like? Who will I be for the next year?”  Uh-oh, I had a sneaking suspicion I was in trouble.

You know when you know that you’re not being entirely honest with yourself? Well, that happened to me with my theme.

I tried out keywords like – GROWTH, HEALTH, TRANSITION, PREPARATION (The last two I blatantly stole from Chris). And although these are all great themes and certainly would improve my life if I spent the year focusing on them, in my heart of hearts, I knew I was latching on to them because I was avoiding my true theme.

…

My keyword for 2009 is DISCIPLINE.

Yup, I’m not one for resolutions, but in 2009 I’m committing to establishing more discipline around my music and my work. What does this mean? More consistent workdays, a documented practice routine, more regular blog posts … you get the idea.

I have a friend whose theme for the year is BALANCE. How about you? What’s your “keyword” for 2009?