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Have you thought about — and I mean really thought about — what would make 2020 a great year for you, either personally, professionally or both?
Even if you don’t go for New Year’s resolutions this is something that everyone should ask him or herself on a regular basis.
Far too often, we don’t set clear goals and then we beat ourselves up for not being “successful” or accomplishing some undefined task.
To quote my friend and dynamic motivational speaker Justin Maust, “did we take the time to clarify the win?”
Far too often the answer is no.
Justin’s analogy is that no one plays a sporting event without a scoreboard. By that same measure, how can you determine whether you are “winning” or “losing” in life if you don’t keep some sort of score.
What that looks like would vary greatly from individual to individual.
Now is a perfect time for us to think about this on a personal level but also collectively as communities with shared aspirations and goals.
The best way to clarify these wins is to determine measurable results to which we can all aspire.
For me, my professional “win” would be that our newspapers reach more people than ever before and create journalism that will have a tangible positive impact on our communities.
On a personal level, it would be to spend more time with my family and give them my undivided attention, something that sadly doesn’t happen as much as it should.
What would the “wins” be for our communities?
Maybe it would be to add at least five new businesses in downtown or redevelop a handful of vacant properties. Maybe it would be to set visitor records with its community events. Maybe it would be as simple as developing a roadmap for a bright future or completing some long overdue infrastructure project.
Lesser wins should be identified as well, with the end result hopefully being that the positive progress adds up to a real victory for the community.
Then you celebrate it.
We can’t win if we don’t keep score. Let’s light up our scoreboards in 2020.

Michael Caldwell is publisher of The Jessamine Journal and Jessamine Life magazine. He can be reached at (859) 759-0095 or by email at mike.caldwell@jessaminejournal.com.