Unprecedented.

Honestly, I don’t want to hear that word anymore.

New Year’s Eve is a day/night that I grew to despise when we had our TFL Party Planners store. We worked all year and ran to a million places to decorate and coordinate. But New Year’s Eve seemed to cram a month’s worth of work into a 36 hour period. And there were always issues.

I did get used to inflating 8,000 balloons in a day – bagging them up, loading the vans, mapping out each delivery with an emphasis on time of delivery. Working all day, keeping the staff motivated through a very long day – celebrating with a sip of champagne once we accomplished an “all done” for the day. We got to celebrate with family, dining on old Italian traditions (don’t forget the lentils for a prosperous year ahead) and dodging plates and stones being thrown at your feet (I never did understand that one) – balloon drops off at midnight, wishing an individual “Happy New Year” to each of the 80 or so family members who gathered (yep, I said 80). It was all in a normal December 31st.

Many of those regular occurrences, the family traditions and the holiday usual, became strangely comforting. We looked forward to those uncomfortable work hours, the relaxing drinks with cousins and finally heading home for a good rest. This year is decidedly different. DON’T SAY IT!

Every news anchor says it (DON’T SAY IT), every year-end wrap-up reporter uses it in the first ten second of their report (DON’T SAY IT). In one sense, it is not unprecedented – the world has seen a pandemic before. The fallacy of being a modern, civilized society (emphasis on the “modern”), we thought we were passed something like this – or perhaps, we didn’t even realize that a global pandemic could be possible in this day and age.

I began this post like many others – I was going in one direction, but I seem to have sauntered off in another. Where I was railing against the use of the word, I am thinking that it may be the word for 2021 but with an altered meaning.

Merriam-Webster defines “unprecedented” as “having no precedent”. (Insert slapstick comedy snare drum top hat clash here). Thanks for the clarification. “Precedent” is “an earlier occurrence of something similar”. We have been to a similar place before as a population; we can take some comfort in that.

We did come out of the 1918 pandemic a changed people. The following generations were not taught about that time because World War I, the Great Depression and a ton of other things overshadowed the lessons that should have been told.

Unprecedented is my word for 2021. And this is how I am using it –

I will make unprecedented changes.

I will set unprecedented goals.

I will make celebrating an unprecedented part of every day.

I will take my accountability to an unprecedented level.

I will succeed to an unprecedented level.

I have seen these claims before – I have had “earlier occurrences” of these “similar” things. But 2020 gave me the vision (ha-ha!) to realize what I have been given the chance to do with the gift I am given every day when I can put my feet on the ground.

My cousin used to say “Another day in paradise” when someone would ask him how things were going. For me, 2021 will have every day truly be another day in paradise – at an unprecedented level – here’s wishing the same for all of you!

Jane works with women to powerfully transform their businesses:  getting comfortable with the “money side” of business & the value they give their customers, being clear on the niche they serve with their signature offering.  She laser focuses your authentic brand, making your message, product or service more visible. Make your work more profitable business through marketing processes in-line with your authentic brand.  As the NY Global Business Connector for Women Speakers Association, she connects women with an international network of powerful women “Message Makers”.  Resources, connections, opportunities and trainings to help them clarify their message or brand, increasing their visibility, and growing their audience. Join her Facebook Group, Phenomenal Message Makers, for tips & downloads on focusing & promoting your message. Read more of Jane’s writings at BrainzMagazine.com, in her upcoming collaborative book, Voices of the 21st Century: Resilient Women Who Rise, or at janeparmel.com.