About a year ago I wrote a blog post about how to function one life seems to be falling apart. I mentioned that my wife had been diagnosed with cancer. After 13 months, we are finally finished with all of the treatments. Everything looks good for her continued health. There are never guarantees, but all news has been positive. In addition, she is back to exercising and regaining her strength. She is a pretty incredible person. We are both ready to resume our family life and career. Many thanks to so many of you who have been supportive and helpful over the last year.
In addition to fewer stressors and medical appointments, I am also ending my term as a journal editor at the end of 2016 and my term as program director ends on June 1, 2017; so I will have far fewer time and energy demands to interfere with achieving outcomes.
So let’s move forward in the tradition of creating New Year’s resolutions:
- I have a few personal goals for the year
- 2016 was an excellent year for going to the gym. I went to the gym for full workouts nearly 4 days per week on average. I also had weekly judo training. These were great therapies when I was stressed. I want to continue this pace of exercise.
- For 2017 judo training will increase to twice per week
- The big change this year will be in the kitchen. I need to take the discipline that I use for getting to the gym and apply that to eating. I have become extremely muscular, but have too much weight for somebody of my age and it is time to get lean.
- The theme of this year’s work is making personal connections and professional trouble
- I was too busy and stressed to be a good supervisor this year. I barely know my students. I want to improve the relationships with the students under my supervision.
- I would like to improve partnerships and co-authored projects with colleagues from around the world.
- I will be working toward creating a stronger professional identity for Canadian school psychologists
- I would like to disrupt the methods and assumptions currently used in clinical research in all fields. We are now ready to make trouble by publishing work on a new model that enhances evidence-based practices, addresses research problems in psychology, improves implementation, and advances theory in productive directions. Yup, it is a pretty cool idea and you are just gonna have to wait for it.
Goals are not useful without measurables and timelines.
- Finish book contract with Springer publishing by delivering the finished product by March 31.
- Submit one major project (manuscript for refereed journal or grant proposal) per month for the 2017 calendar year. All of these projects are to be co-authored with students or colleagues.
- Monthly lab happy hours for the 2017 calendar year.
- Submit new book series proposal by June 1.
- Reduce by 4 pounds per month.
- Take my wife on two vacations this year.
I also wish health, wisdom, compassion, justice, and friendship to you all.
SR Shaw
researchtopractice 