Future Emergent, year four

This year has been busy. How busy? I was introducing myself on a call last week and realized I missed my own business anniversary by a few weeks. Future Emergent is now 4 years (and 1 month) old today! It feels wild. It feels right. In the past year I...

Wrote a book. Itai and I wrote exactly the book we both wish we had read earlier in our careers. Years ago, my friend Christina told me to start working on passive income streams. I may not have gotten the "income" part down yet for this particular project, but I've got the spirit! I know it'll continue to open doors I'm not yet aware of. I'm so proud of how it turned out.

Collaborated a lot. All my projects in the past year were in partnership with at least one other person. Most of the contacts I made in year 4 began with a friend saying, "you know who you should meet..." I love working with other people. This year showed me in many ways that it's possible to work with friends and be friends with colleagues. In year 5, I'm looking forward to at least doubling the number of karaoke circles I'm in!

Partnered with community. I've called Seattle my home for more than a decade now. It's thrilling to have worked with so many folks in the area who are making positive change. I did a lot of engagement and facilitation projects in the past year. I also helped launch strategic plans for two local community-based organizations.

reviewing my goals from year 3

These are the goals I set for myself around this time last year. How'd I do? Pretty good!

Job stability. This was a great year for Future Emergent. I wanted to take on longer-term projects to help balance out the ones I was doing in under a year. I started and completed a healthy number of 8-12 month projects. I also signed on to two multi-year projects that I'll be working in some capacity through 2028. I still need to hustle to keep my short-project stream going, but it's fun to see work take place on a longer time scale. Updating my logo wall recently was another confidence booster.

Learn and grow into project administration. I'm still working on this one. I wanted to take the lead on more projects as a Prime this year. None of these projects ended up panning out, though there's a chance they might come back in late 2026. That said, I took on more responsibilities I could call prime-lite. Room to grow here, but progress for sure.

Offer strategic planning again. Done! I wanted to come back to strategic planning because of how much I love doing it. I signed on to two successful projects and learned a lot in the process. They didn't always go according to plan, but what does? I'll be on the lookout for more strategic plan work in year 5. Know anyone who's been thinking about strategic planning for their organization? This is a great time to reach out.

goals for year 5

Honestly, that sentence is still wild to me. Half a decade! This is going to be a big year, I can feel it.

Launch a cooperative. This is the year I said I'd do it. Of course, back then it was a pipe dream inside a larger pipe dream. Last week I gathered folks to talk more about what a cooperative consulting firm could do. We're meeting again later this month. It feels realistic, finally, to think about launching this year. If I'm off by a few months, so what? I have the luxury of enough time to do it well.

Get better at proposal writing. I love to write, but proposals are a different beast. I'm good but not great at it. I've been getting more experience lately, but I want more opportunities to apply to. I want to get better at this particular skill. That also means finding advantages and linking up with the experts I need to be successful.

Network, network, and network some more. Pretty much every industry is in some kind of turmoil right now. Funds are drying up in some areas but everyone in every field has problems they need to solve. A major advantage in winning projects is having someone who knows you and will vouch for your work. In the past few years I've connected with some cool, interesting, and passionate people. I want to keep expanding that circle.

glancing at the mirror

This annual post has become so important to me. There's a lot on the horizon that I'm looking forward to. I appreciate taking the time to observe how far I've come on the goals I set for myself. I've checked off a lot of what I set out to do each year. It's also funny, in the way that the past burns a little less over time, to reflect on the things that used to worry me. I still have plenty to occupy my mind, but at least the anxieties are new! I'm so grateful to everyone I'm in community with. Thank you for sticking around.