The $119 Resolution Solution

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Issue 34 | December 31, 2019 | The $119 Resolution Solution

On one of the first days of 2019, I drank wine with a friend. On this final day of 2019, a polite HVAC service tech arrived early in the morning and charged me $119. These two events are directly related.

I booked the tech through a web form late last night, one day shy of year-end. There was no emergency. Well, the emergency was that I had one day left in the year to achieve a written resolution – “learn to clean out the exhaust duct to the dryer.”

The No-Matter-What Principle
At the start of 2019, that dear friend invited me to be “resolution buddies,” an invitation I have been waiting my whole life to get. We conducted a 2019 Resolutions Summit, where we discussed and wrote down specific goals for the year (while drinking wine, obviously).

And one item on my written list: Finally learn to clean out the exhaust duct on the dryer.

I tried early in the year to cross this goal off my list. After watching a few YouTube videos, I got sidetracked by the idea that I needed a special cleaning tool, which I planned to borrow from a neighbor at some point. Then, I forgot about the whole thing.

But because it was in writing, every now and then I would stumble across the resolution again, or just think of it, and feel plagued by my pledge. So on December 30, I watched a new YouTube video, shoved the dryer away from the wall and prepared to achieve personal greatness.

Then I chickened out.

Turns out our dryer is a natural gas dryer (who knew!), and I would have to turn the gas off, plus I didn’t have the foil tape to reattach the whole apparatus post-cleaning. So I located the tech.

But here we are! December 31 – and this resolution. Is. Done! (The $119 fee included a lesson in how to clean the exhaust duct myself, as well as routine maintenance for the furnace. Bonus!)

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Even if you aren’t the resolutions type, the new year is an excellent time to check in with your professional goals, evaluate your progress and consider where you want to go. In the upcoming weeks, I’ll be conducting an annual review of my business, including my own content audit and an after-action report of 2019 projects. I’ll also put formal goals in writing for 2020 – here’s one of the resources that has me noodling on the possibilities.

There’s one 2020 goal I’m already certain of: to serve clients with excellent writing and editing services. It’s my pleasure to be a resource to you all – many thanks for your business this year, and all the best for 2020!

Happy New Year!

Looking for a freelance financial writer to help you boost the value of your content in 2020? Reach out and let’s talk about your project needs.