Melanie the Marketer's thoughts on making New Year's resolutions

New Year, New Plans, Same Old Me

True confession: When people start bashing the annual urge to choose a resolution, I often join in and say, Yeah, that’s a giant waste of time.

But then I turn around and go make one. Or three.

Sometimes, a resolution comes back to haunt me. Especially when it’s 11 months later and I uncover the note I wrote the previous January 1.

Oopsie.

In 2020, two of my resolutions were to use only pencils all year and be on LinkedIn at least 10 minutes a day.

Nailed them.

I also vowed to get back on the keto diet and stick with it.

Failed it.

As the song says, I get knocked down, but I get up again. (Earworm warning.) This eternal optimist still greets each new year with high hopes and big plans that ultimately I do hit, adjust or end up casting aside. And I’m OK with that.

What about you? Are you Team Resolution or Team Substitution (that is, you’d rather swap resolutions for something else more meaningful)?

If you’re with me on Team Resolution and need an accountability partner, I’m here for you. Reply with your plans, and I’ll email you mine.

Here’s to the next 11 months when we can get important things done: Live life. Stay healthy. Treat people with kindness. Count our blessings. Make a living. Do marketing that makes a difference.

ICYMI from Melanie the Marketer Deardorff in Phoenix

  • In case you missed it (ICYMI) — and how could you because I’ve been talking about it for a solid month now? — I created a challenge with 21 prompts you can do any time in 2021 to get more from the time you spend on LinkedIn. More than 200 people signed up to join me. If you’re one of them, I adore you. If you haven’t, what are you waiting for, friend? Get the scoop here.
  • When people signed up for my challenge, I asked what they like and loathe about LinkedIn. No surprise, more people shared what they don’t like. “There’s content in that,” as my business coach Ilise Benun likes to say. So, I wrote up their responses in Five Things People Hate About LinkedIn. Bet you’ll agree with at least three of them.
Image Credit: Lana Sweet on Shutterstock

If you made it this far, thank you

What you just read was in my January 2021 newsletter to clients, prospects, VIP partners and assorted connections, friends and fam. Would you like to hear from me once a month? If so, please sign up for my tips, tools and techniques to bring out the marketer in you.

Published by Melanie Deardorff

I'm a veteran marketer who partners with a diverse mix of clients from myriad industries — finance, tech, coaching/consulting, legal, higher education, packaging — you name it. I also support in-house marketing teams and solopreneur creative pros (copywriters, graphic designers, web developers, etc.) who need to outsource content marketing (e.g., blog posts and case studies) and social media. I have a deep background in financial services and a knack for making tough topics a pleasure to read and understand. I've been a Phoenix-area resident since August 2017 (a life-long Missourian up to that point). It's a dry heat here, and my husband, my dogs and I love it.