looking ahead with intention

The new year is a natural time to look ahead. Even if nothing magical happened the moment the clock struck midnight on December 31st, January brings with it a sense of possibility. It’s a perfect point to pause, take stock, and decide what you want to be intentional about in the months ahead.

One habit I’ve had for years—personally and professionally—is setting OKRs (Objectives & Key Results) at the beginning of each quarter. It’s a practice I learned at Google and is one of the rituals I credit most for helping us make steady progress on ambitious, meaningful goals at SWD.

We use OKRs not as a rigid checklist, but as a way to clarify what really matters right now, what success looks like, and where to focus limited time and energy. If you’re curious to learn more, check out the Goals like Google episode of the SWD podcast.

The start of a new year is also an especially good time to think about skill development. I’m a fan of framing it in a focused, realistic way that fits into the rest of your life and work. This can even be one of your OKRs: invest in how I communicate with data.

If that’s an objective you share, here are a few ways to learn with us:

• Participate in the monthly SWD challenge: it’s a low-risk way to experiment and practice. The current challenge focuses on communicating with partial data.

• Attend a virtual workshop (the next takes place February 24th) or check out our on-demand courses to move at your own pace.

• Want to dive deep? Join our 8-week online course to learn and practice the art of planning, creating, and delivering a data story; the next cohort begins January 26th.

• Organize a training for your team: we offer mini, core, and immersive sessions tailored for your needs and customized with your examples.

However you choose to approach the year ahead, my hope is that you give yourself both permission to start fresh and a plan to make and measure progress.

Here’s to a fantastic year ahead!