Objective: Great 2011!

I really enjoyed writing to several of the #Reverb10 prompts in December 2010, and I am excited to see that the Reverb community is keeping the great writing, creating, and thinking going as 2011 picks up speed. This is the prompt for February 2011:

One month into 2011, what question(s) are you living? Are there any prompts/questions that arose during #reverb10 that are still resonating in your life? Are you living new questions?

The prompt included these instructions: Like #reverb10, you may respond to this prompt as-is or remix it to suit your needs. Write, blog, photograph, draw or respond however you'd like.

I have been pounding out a good bit of writing lately, don't have any photographs that speak to this topic exactly, and you don't want me to draw. For a change of pace, I think I will employ a SWOT analysis. I found myself recommending this approach to a friend recently as she tried to wrestle with a decision about returning to work after several years being home with her kids. A few years ago, I employed SWOT (looking at the strengths/weaknesses/opportunities and threats inherent in a situation in order to make a well-reasoned business decision) when I ended up one-on-one with a fairly high ranking executive of our Third Party Administrator at a time when I wanted to establish a rapport but also take advantage of an opportunity to share some concerns.

To try to chip away at the questions still unanswered in 2011, here is a SWOT look at my life:

Strengths

Proofreading, editing, writing - I find great satisfaction in using these skills and feel confident that I can serve authors such as Rhett Devane and Senator Bob McKnight, for whom I edited Accidental Ambition, and Donna Meredith, for whom I edited The Glass Madonna.

Weaknesses

I need to get a backbone. I don't speak  up when I am right and I apologize way too often as a way to placate when an apology is the wrong strategy.

Opportunities

They are why I do it all. Despite all of the tension and frazzled moments inherent in being a family of four, I wake up each day with the gift of being mom and wife:

New York City August 2007 (Photo Credit Dan Carubia)

Threats

I read a quote this morning that resonated, especially since I knew I was going to write about this topic tonight:

The greatest success, is successful self acceptance. Ben Sweet

On a day when I allowed a perfectly nice string of hours with my teenager to deteriorate into a spiral of negative self-talk over a $5.99 ring from Target that had not made it into the bag, with a few accusations flying both ways, self acceptance remains a question that still insinuates itself too frequently.

How is a SWOT analysis supposed to end? I suppose that is where this post detours from the business purpose. It won't necessarily help me make more money, get anything done faster, or satisfy a board of directors. But hopefully when I revisit it in February 2012, there won't be a spineless jellyfish to be found.