It’s time to look back at my year that was and figure out where this little train jumped off the rails. I’ll be the first to admit that I ran out of steam chugging along toward the end of the year. My writing output was way down for reasons I still can’t quite figure out. Everything has felt like a much bigger task to accomplish throughout the year. To that end, let’s look at what I wanted to do and how it came out:

• Keeping Track of Things: I did a little bit better with this one, aside from my post schedule. I tried to track things much more and understand deadlines and such. I didn’t always succeed like I wanted to but at least I made the effort.
• Creating Evergreen Content: This one was probably a miss. I didn’t create nearly as much content this year as I have in years past. What little I did create sometimes felt unfocused and less impactful. Part of that has to do with the overall move away from written content to something more video and audio focused. However, even my other content like Tomversations was significantly reduced this year. I will say that the one episode that I did record that dealt with InfiniBand was actually really good and I think it’s going to have some life in the future.
• Insuring Intentionality: I tried to be more intentional with things in 2023 and we see how this turned out. I think I need to make sure to put that more at the front of my mind in 2024 as we look at the way that writing and other content creation is being transformed. In fact, the number of times that I’ve had to fight my AI-based autocomplete to make it stop finishing sentences for me reminds me how intentional I need to be in order to get the right things out there that I want to say. And before you say “just turn it off” I want to see how trainable it is to actually do what I want. So maybe part of the intentionality is making it intentional that I’m going to beat this thing.

Looking back at where I was makes me realize that content creation is always going to be a battle and so it making sure I have time for it. That means prioritizing the schedule for 2024, which isn’t going to be easy. Tech Field Day is now a part of the Futurum Group, which means I’m going to need to figure out how my role is going to be different in the coming months. I’m still going to be a part of Field Day but I also know I’m going to need to figure out how to navigate new coworkers and new goals. I have also been named a course director for my council’s Wood Badge course in the fall. That means doing some of the hardest leadership I’ve ever had to do, which I’m sure I’ll be documenting along the way here. As to what I want to specifically work on in 2024, what needs the most help?

• Reaching Out For Help: Not surprisingly, this is something I have always needed help with (pun intended). I’ve never been one to ask for help with things until it’s almost to the point of disaster. So I need to be better in 2024 about asking for the help I need or think I’m going to need before it gets to be a huge problem. But that also means asking for assistance with things early on to help me get on the right track. Help isn’t always just doing things. It’s about making sure that you have the right ideas before you start down the track. So I’m going to make sure I’m ready to get the guidance and assistance I need when it’s needed and not when it’s an attempt to save the day.
• Prioritizing Scheduling Intelligently: Part of the struggle in 2023 was making sure I was prioritizing things appropriately. Yes, work things always take priority as they should. But It’s also about other things that are part of my calendar that I need to get a handle on. I’ve done a good job of letting some of them go over the last year so the next phase is taming the ones that are left. Making sure the important meetings have their place and time but also making sure that those meetings have prep time and other pieces in the calendar so they don’t push anything else out of the way. It’s not enough to just block time and hope for the best. It’s about knowing what needs to be done and making it happen the right way at the right time.
• Staying Consistent with Content: After the rise of GPT assistants and the flood of video content in 2023 I realize that I like writing more and more. Not having something complete my thoughts for me. Not jumping in front of a video camera to do stuff cold. I like to write. As much as I love the weekly Rundown show that we do I love writing the scripts almost as much. My Zen is in the keyboard, not the camera. I’ll still be creating video content but my focus will be in creating more of the writing that I like so much. I’ve already been experimenting with LinkedIn as a platform and I think I’ll be doing some more there too. Maybe not as much as I hope to do here but we will see how that goes.

Tom’s Take

We all have challenges we have to overcome. That’s the nature of life. As the industry has changed and evolved over time the way we communicate our ideas and perspectives to everyone has had to change as well. If you’d have told me ten years ago that Twitter would be a ghost town and Youtube would be everyone’s preferred learning tool I might have laughed. If you’d have told me five years ago I couldn’t have foreseen how things would turn out. The way we make it work is by staying on track and taking the challenges as they come. Switching social media platforms or embracing new content styles is all part of the game. But working with your strengths and making people smile and helping them to be informed is part of what this whole game is all about. 2024 is going to be another year of challenges and opportunities to shine. I hope the make the most of it and stay on track to success.