My 2020 plan in 33 words

Oh, is it time for the Year in Review? My apologies. I’m not one to document goals, accomplishments or disappointments. If I wanted to do all that, I would be working.

Nor do I develop a complex plan for the upcoming year. Commitments, metrics – it starts to feel like performance management, and that’s enough to give me nightmares. What a horrible process that was. It gets ugly when you become a leader and see how the sausage is made. I almost threw up the first time I had to change someone’s rating because there were too many in that tier. It’s called forced distribution, and it sucks.

On the receiving end, I always got positive reviews, but you know how it goes. They have to find one thing. You gotta learn to take it. No matter what my boss wrote or said, I learned to respond, “Thank you so much. I love this job and can’t wait to work in collaboration with the team to accomplish even more next year.” Period.

Then whine about that one thing all night until Dale shuffles off to bed, turning to 600 pages of U-boat lore for solace.

I just can’t mess with laying all that judgment on myself anymore. I’m not perfect, but despite the rumors, I’m pretty cool. Life is great! My career felt like a 35-year race, and retirement feels like I made it to the finish line. It’s not as though I’m done with life, but I don’t have to run that particular race anymore. Now I can go to the party tent and drink beer.

Some people need big ideas to push them, and if that’s what makes you tick, I’m all about embracing it. I’ve seen some impressive 2020 goal-setting, and I seriously do find myself thinking, damn, I’m a slacker. For some of us, however, all that structure is oppressive. I actually get a lot done, but I try not to make a job out of it.

I keep a list of priorities on a 3 x 5 note card and call it a year.

If you’re feeling pressure to reinvent yourself in retirement or set up quarterly productivity metrics, I invite you to come over to the dark side, where we have a few priorities and the occasional short-term list to make sure things get done, but having clean jammies to hang out in is often the highest expectation of the day.

Aside from waking up without an alarm clock, my favorite times are when I play hard outside and come home to a great dinner. Maybe more of those in 2020? Dale? Dale? Anyone?

As for New Year’s Eve, we don’t make a big deal out of it. Our joke is nothing good happens after 10 p.m., when you should be home with the doors locked. For dinner, I’m making baguettes, which we’ll have with some fancy cold cuts, smoked salmon, cheese and champagne.

I assure you. If I see midnight, it’s only because I got up to pee.