{"id":1765,"date":"2013-06-30T11:30:55","date_gmt":"2013-06-30T18:30:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/?p=1765"},"modified":"2013-06-30T11:32:53","modified_gmt":"2013-06-30T18:32:53","slug":"resolutions-for-a-happy-new-fiscal-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/2013\/06\/resolutions-for-a-happy-new-fiscal-year\/","title":{"rendered":"Resolutions for a Happy New (Fiscal) Year!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"whiteSpace\"“White. A blank page of canvas. His favorite. So many possibilities.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The very last line of Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George <\/strong>expresses the kind of optimism that deservedly arrives with the start of every new project & every new year, even a new fiscal<\/strong><\/em> year.<\/p>\n

A fresh start.<\/p>\n

A clean slate.<\/p>\n

Square one.<\/p>\n

Tabula Rasa<\/p>\n

A New Beginning<\/p>\n

There may be nothing more empowering to the human mind than the chance to start anew.<\/p>\n

That’s why I believe in the power of New Year’s Resolutions. \u00a0They are opportunities to express our best intentions. \u00a0To articulate our highest priorities. \u00a0To think about our selves and our organizations in the way in which we’d like them to be.<\/p>\n

Beware those who disdainfully say that the road to hell is paved with good intentions. \u00a0They constrain your creativity and drain your optimism.<\/p>\n

Our minds have a wondrous capacity for imagination. \u00a0Ideas & intentions necessarily<\/em>\u00a0precede and outnumber accomplishments.<\/strong> \u00a0Let’s not worry one bit about making resolutions that may fall short. \u00a0Surely there is virtue enough in exercising the power of “what if…”<\/p>\n

Because SOME resolutions WILL become accomplishments.<\/p>\n

The folks at StatisticBrain.com<\/a><\/strong> researched the top New Year’s Resolutions. \u00a0I offer them here with special interpretation for arts & cultural leaders resolving for themselves and their organizations upon entering a new fiscal year:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Lose Weight<\/strong> – What unnecessary baggage are you still carrying around? \u00a0Whenever someone says, “We’ve always done it that way<\/em>” you’ve found an area deserving of scrutiny.<\/li>\n
  2. Get Organized<\/strong> – Your Mom stopped telling you to clean up your room years ago… \u00a0but what would<\/strong> <\/em>she say about your office? \u00a0Seriously! \u00a0Take a day to purge and reorganize. \u00a0You’ll feel better and you’ll set a great example for the rest of your office! \u00a0(And your Mom will be so proud!)<\/li>\n
  3. Spend Less, Save More<\/strong> – Read my recent blog on budgets with your organization’s leadership team and discuss: \u00a0“Toward what objective would we spend our extra 10%?”<\/em> \u00a0https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/2013\/06\/please-sir-i-want-some-more-budget\/<\/a><\/li>\n
  4. Enjoy Life to the Fullest<\/strong> – Here’s an interesting topic for your next staff meeting: \u00a0“If we knew that this was the final<\/strong> <\/em>year of this organization’s life, what would we do to make the most of it?”<\/li>\n
  5. Staying Fit and Healthy<\/strong> – The best investment you can make for the new year is to take stock of the hard-won lessons of the past. \u00a0Before you wipe the slate clean, invest some time & effort to write a “case study” around each of the 3 most critical challenges you faced in the past year that describes what you did (or wish you did) on each. \u00a0The key to staying fit is in developing healthy habits. \u00a0Candid self-assessment is a biggie!<\/li>\n
  6. Learn Something Exciting<\/strong> – How about starting a “thing<\/em> of the month club” within your organization? \u00a0Gather together with other people who want to get into the\u00a0habit<\/em>\u00a0of learning – and come up with a process to share news, relevant books, blog posts, apps, research reports, articles & more.<\/li>\n
  7. Quit Smoking<\/strong> – \u00a0“What is our organization’s most unhealthy habit?” \u00a0Why not survey your staff today? \u00a0It’s never easy breaking bad habits, but the benefits can be huge.<\/li>\n
  8. Help Others in Their Dreams<\/strong> – Name one\u00a0emerging <\/strong><\/em>nonprofit arts or cultural organization or leader in your community that you admire. \u00a0What is one thing that your organization might be willing to do to support that organization’s (or leader’s) audience-building efforts? \u00a0(For example, might you send an e-mail to your list on their behalf?) \u00a0With no strings attached, why not call that person up and offer your gift today<\/strong>?<\/li>\n
  9. Fall in Love<\/strong> – We spend so much time & effort trying to get audiences to fall in love with OUR offerings, it’s easy to forget that love must be mutual. \u00a0What effort have you made to fall in love with your audience?<\/li>\n
  10. Spend More Time with Family<\/strong> – Your staff wants more than a paycheck and your volunteers deserve more than donuts & coffee. \u00a0They want to belong<\/strong><\/em> to something greater than themselves. \u00a0They want your personal connection<\/strong><\/em>. \u00a0Resolve to make each and every one a meaningful part of your process to make the magic happen.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    With best wishes for a happy & prosperous new (fiscal) year…<\/p>\n

    # # #<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    “White. A blank page of canvas. His favorite. So many possibilities.” The very last line of Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George expresses the kind of optimism that deservedly arrives with the start of every new project & every new year, even a new fiscal year. A fresh start. A clean slate. Square […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,34,7],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1765","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-best-practices","7":"category-marketing","8":"category-morale","9":"entry","10":"has-post-thumbnail"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1765\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/audience\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}