I don’t know about you but the next two weeks on my calendar are sprinkled with dinners and cocktail parties and they are not all virtual. Some will require pants, shoes and lipstick. That’s a lot of effort for activities that usually cause me to roll my eyes and find other things to do.

But this year is going to be different. I am looking at each get-together as an opportunity to learn new things.

I am going to try not to gossip about people in other departments or complain about the weather. Instead, I am going to share positive and interesting stuff about my work.

For example, when someone asks me how things are going, my response is not going to be “so busy”. Of course, I am busy. Everyone is busy. We would not have jobs if we were not busy.

Instead, I am going to talk about one of the search projects I am working on. This opens the door for much more interesting conversation than “I am sooooo busy”.

I am also going to avoid asking about people’s plans for the holidays. There are lots of people, like me, who are not going skiing in the Swiss Alps or dining with celebrities. While it can be fun to hear about those adventures, it can be depressing too.

I am going to ask about Netflix instead.  I plan on some heavy binge watching over the holidays and I need some recommendations.

If I can stick to this plan, I should be able to come away from this holiday season with lots of new ideas and information which will be an excellent foundation for my big plans next year.

Cheers!