La Shana Tova and Staying Strong Together

Tonight marks the start of the Jewish New Year of 5781. During this holiday we focus on how to make ourselves better for the year to come.  It is a time to reflect on past mistakes and the lessons we learned to build a better future.  The theme of my Temple this year is Staying Strong Together (Chazak V' Amatz).  

It is a good time to reflect on our past years experience and how we can make the year 5781 a better year for our personal and professional life.  

Coincidentally, I was watching a segment on Good Morning America this morning with entrepreneur GaryVEE on Re-Invent U. He suggested we should all practice the term "GAP" which stands for Grateful, Accountability and Perspective.  This ties in directly with the reset ideology to start a new year cycle.  I did not know much about him but found this to be very inspiring and just subscribed to listen to his podcast.  

In Gary's framework I thought I would share my reflections.

Grateful:

I found the resilience and adaptability of my company, Coldwell Banker to have been a huge benefit to my life. The Company redesigned our platforms early on in the first months of stay at home to provide the highest level of virtual service to clients.  The training is unmatchable and there are new courses offered weekly to be in the forefront of the industry.

Accountability:

I have taken advantage of numerous webinars and technologies that I am also able to bring into my daily routine such as using platforms of Zoom, Google Meet, Facebook and InstagramLive, LinkedIn, Microsoft Teams and even FaceTime to interact and share a personal interface social distancing.  In addition, I was able to improve my knowledge base and recently to earn a Certification for AHWD - At Home With Diversity. 

Perspective:  I am now able to reach more clients and have much more flexibility to serve a wider and diverse range of buyers and sellers.  My virtual tool kit is continuously being updated and I am excited to face the opportunities to share these with clients this coming year. 

These themes also can be reflected in my personal life.  I am grateful to have a nice home in the suburbs with the most needed comforts. I am also thankful to have had time to work on a few projects around the house since I have had more at home time such as my family tree.  

Adaptability has allowed me to be able to social distance adjust most of my daily needs by planning ahead when going out to keep safely social distanced and masked while avoiding crowds. At times this can be challenging.  I have also redefined my errand and shopping experience to buy more online. I have adapted my fitness routine to online yoga and pilates classes and take long walks.  I have also taken advantage of working harder to connect with people I have been out of touch with.  

Perspective: Being home has given me more opportunity to reach out and reconnect with many family and friends I had lost contact with over the years. In many ways I have learned new skills and am living a stronger healthier lifestyle.    I believe I have actually become a better cook and make almost everything from scratch with much healthier ingredients including local farm fresh vegetables, a more vegan diet and baked from scratch sourdough breads.  

The year has been challenging and many of these adapted behaviors will be the new normal until this virus is fully mitigated.  There was an informative article in Medium yesterday about the continued obstacles we will be facing as we head towards colder weather.  Basically we still need to remain vigilant and continue to 1) wear masks 2) social distance and 3) make sure we have good air infiltration.  

As we head in to the New Year it is also important to think ahead.  As I watch the upcoming Presidential campaign I believe Joe Biden's plan to BUILD BACK BETTER aligns well with the Staying Strong Together.  His plan to unify and lead our country needs to start with each of us working toward a common goal.  This can happen if we  work together as a country to defeat the virus and share goals for the common good.  I hope I can optimistically look forward to celebrating his success in the next election and will work hard to help this campaign.  

I wish all of my readers a wonderful new beginning.  I truly look forward to Staying Strong Together as we head toward the New Year.  La Shana Tova.

Wendy is a Realtor with Coldwell Banker Needham. In her free time she enjoys connecting with friends and clients,  travel, cooking and walking her dog Delilah.  She loves coffee and is happy to have a socially distanced Zoom coffee anytime.