What's the Big Deal About Year-End?

Hello and welcome to year three of the Virtual Executive Director podcast! Same music, same host (me), and yes, the same dogs possibly interrupting our recording sessions (though they are blessedly asleep right now).    Philosopher and author Alain de Botton said “Anyone who isn't embarrassed of who they were last year probably isn't learning enough.”   This is a great springboard for us to talk about the end of the year. Think back to this time last year. Were you launching a performing arts season? Getting back to work in schools? How about personally? What were you like as a person?    12 months ago, I was very happy with my job, but I wasn't completely happy with myself as a person. I was impatient and easily stressed out, and my health was on the verge of some bad preventable disease. I knew I didn't want to be in the same place by the next year, so I took steps to make a change.    As Summer is winding down, let's not forget that the fourth quarter of this year will be here before we know it. Most of us in nonprofit associate year-end with fundraising, and that is still important. But what if you expanded your vision of what could happen over the next few months? What would your organization look like by the first of next year?    I can already hear those of you who are Questioners in the "Four Tendencies" framework (created by Gretchen Rubin) asking me why it's important to even be thinking about these things right now. After all January 1st is just another day on the calendar. The thing is, in our society and culture, the end of one year and the beginning of the next carries a wave of transition energy with it. The closing of one chapter and the beginning of another. We fight for so much in nonprofit--for funding, for our cause, for new laws--why not take a season and ride the prevailing wave to our advantage?    What does that look like?    -Making time to work on organizational culture -Taking a look at the goals you set 9 months ago  -And yes, fundraising   So how do you want to roll into 2020?   Resources Learn more about executive coaching here:  https://virtualexecutivedirector.com/index.php/yes-year-end-success-executive-coaching/ Support the podcast with a Patreon gift here:  https://www.patreon.com/virtualexecutivedirector Take the Four Tendencies quiz here: https://quiz.gretchenrubin.com/