One thousand. It seems to be a tipping point of a number. A thousand points of light. Coach 1K (instead of Coach K) after Mike Krzyzewski earned his thousandth win. A Thousand Miles song and A Thousand Acres Pulitzer winner. And now a thousand blogs.
One of the best things I did in writing blogs is to number them from the beginning. If I hadn't, I would never have guessed I had written this many. One a day doesn't seem like much, but they now amass more than a quarter of a million words. Knowing where I stand allows me to look back on the One Thousand mark and feel a sense of accomplishment.
I am reminded of a speech given by author Ken Blanchard*: "One reason you want to record is so you can see your progress," he said. He spoke of Shamu, the famous whale, and how they trained him to jump over the rope. They tracked his movements and praised him each time they raised the rope a little higher.
Just as it is important to take a moment to reflect on the accumulation of blogs or to celebrate when Shamu increases his leap, it is also worthwhile to acknowledge milestones in your organization.
Think of what you can record with specificity so that you have a benchmark for when progress is achieved. It likely would not occur to you to soak in satisfaction on a random day, but having some points to acknowledge can build reflection and celebration into your routine.
-- beth triplett
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Ken Blanchard, Keynote Address, ACU-I Conference, 1985
Congrats on your 1000th post! I've been following since the NACA National Convention and appreciate your insights that lead to thoughtful reflection for many of us. Take care, Courtney James - University of Central Oklahoma, WIU Alum
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