Are You Ready for the New Year?

Here it come ready or not.  2012.  I’ve decided to be ready.  I’ve done some years using “or not” mode.  It wasn’t pretty.   So I’m deciding ahead of time…this is my breakthrough year.  I hope someone out there is “rewarding points” for forward thinking gals like me.  Compliments and accolades will be accepted at any time.  (Applause signs are flashing here).

What is She Talking About?

Recently I read an article by Debbie Macomber featured in the December Guideposts magazine.  Debbie Macomber is an author who has learned to succeed in the business aspect of the profession of writing.

She reveals in this article that one of the things she does is choose a single word for each year. She thinks about this ahead of time until the right word seems to find her.   She uses this word in her reflections and decisions all throughout the year.  She described many of the words she has chosen in the past and recounted the experiences those selected words have influenced her life.

Bam!

It didn’t take long for my word to come to me.  My word for 2012 is BREAKTHROUGH.  

Why?  It occurred to me that I am incredibly self-motivated and hard-working.  However, I am willing to work and work and work and yet when I hit certain barriers I don’t break through them. Want some examples?

• Technology stymies me.  I can spend forever writing because I enjoy the process.  But when it comes to breaking through barriers of online marketing, social media, downloading gidgets and whatchamacallits and other google mysteries, I feel out of my element so I don’t get my writing to people who might enjoy it.
• Weight.  I have been gaining and losing the same number of pounds for years when what my body really needs is a greater number of pounds to be eliminated once and for all.
• I love to exercise right after I’m finished exercising.  I love the feeling of well-being that follows the exertion. I need some kind of breakthrough system for reminding myself of those rewards when I’m still lying in bed thinking about how cold and dark Ohio winter mornings really are.

I’m going to try for some major breakthrough in these areas.  I swear I am.  I felt much stronger about it before I tried for perhaps one hour in two sittings to attach an inspiring photo or picture right under the word breakthrough above.  Why can I attach a photo some days and find it completely impossible on other days?

So What the Heck is ZMOT?

Marky is my friend who is my technology mentor these days.  Why did I choose her?  I like to choose someone to help me with technology who is encouraging and just a little bit ahead of me.  Too much skill in an area in which I feel clueless is too intimidating for me.  She is also my writing partner in a new eBook I’m writing about Caregiving for Elderly Parents.

Anyway, Marky said we have to learn about ZMOT.  I thought she was talking gibberish but I downloaded it from Google.  ZMOT stands for the Zero Moment of Truth.  It preaches about today’s customers using the internet hand-held devices to decide about products and services instantanenously…sometimes while even standing in front of the product in a store.  Or even more frequently to order online.  Old ways of marketing are losing ground quickly to ZMOT types of marketing.

Do I really have to learn all this stuff? (Please read that question in a whining voice).  I just want to write and have people enjoy my writing…oh and maybe I’d like to make a little money at it sometime.  I’m trying to think like a breakthrough gal.

Yesterday I was out with a favorite little girl in my life who is ten years old. 

I told her all about my “BREAKTHROUGH” word for the new year.  I was proud of myself.  I felt like I was modeling positive behavior patterns for her.

She said, “There is a song titled Breakthrough.”

I said, “There is?”

“Yep,” she said, “Lemonade Mouth sings it.”

“Huh?” I said.

“As soon as I get two bars on my Ipod Touch from some Wi-fi area we pass, I’ll download the lyrics for you.”

And she did. 

I think that might have been a ZMOT moment.  I could hear Steven Jobs laughing at me from heaven.  It sounded like a cackle. 

Turns out I might need to learn this ZMOT stuff.  It is creeping up on all of us whether we are teachers, writers, health care professionals, store clerks or whatever. 

Do you want to try to breakthrough with me?  Maybe we can encourage one another.  I’m pretty determined.  December 30th is a safe time to feel determined.  But no I really mean it.  In 2012 I’m going to experience many breakthroughs.  I’ll keep you informed.