COLLABORATE
Knight Aviation & Logistics Monthly Newsletter
FARCH 2021 – VOLUME 4
IT'S FARCH!
By Jenna Gillespie, Business Development & Account Services
Farch: A hybrid between Winter and Spring, Darkness and Light, February and March.
By this point, our New Year’s Resolutions have dwindled from 15 to a realistic 3 and our optimism sees with wide, hopeful eyes that we likely only have two big snowstorms left. Ah Farch… such a great double month.
Farch is when I try my best to gear down from all the gumption I put out in January. This is a necessary break because for me, my January output is obnoxiously full throttle.
Ask my co-workers, Darren and Alec. I’m sure they dread the first meeting back after the holiday season, where I show up with multicoloured highlighters, last year’s company analysis and a shiny new goal tracking spreadsheet that I want used in full.
I want plans, I want input and I want it NOW!
I come into that meeting like a maniac! Only not like the fun, up for anything, type of maniac. More like a dictator in heels trying to organize a year’s worth of growth, with post-Christmas anxiety as my fuel. I recognize this is not my finest character trait, however my ability to control this monster called ‘January Jenna’ is nearly impossible.
But, like any spirited monster would, I get tired, then burnt out and spend the last week of January crying into February.
You’d think year after year I’d learn, but no. Towards the end of the first month of a fresh new year, I become somewhat overwhelmed with trying to achieve an entire year’s worth of success in one month (three weeks if you exclude my week of sobbing leading up to Farch).
I need not be reminded that these are all self-inflicted expectations I set for myself and then assume upon others. Just another fine quality I have.
I promise that come Spring, I’m much more tolerable.
This year, we also had those pesky pandemic pressures weighing on us. Not surprisingly, my traditional colour coding and fancy spreadsheets did not stand a chance.
So rather than put further unrealistic demands and timelines on myself and others, in Farch I’m digging deep.
I’m pulling out the big guns and attempting to trust. After my highlighters run out of ink and I can’t possibly roadmap another goal, trust is all I’ve got left.
I have to trust that this year won’t go off the rails if everything isn’t planned perfectly. I mean, how can we possibly plan in this environment anyway? I have to trust that we will still do everything we can to ensure that we are moving in a forward motion, even if that motion is much slower than our standard in years past. Finally, I have no choice but to trust that positive changes are happening, even with all the negative news. This is not a breezy thing to do. My instinct is to over plan what I can’t control, highlight it, then ensure that the font and format of said un-plannable plans are perfect. Then I’ll save it in a highly controlled environment where everyone who needs to follow this unattainable plan can find it.
(Sigh) So, that’s why I blend February and March. I need every single one of those 59 days to unwind the mind from the January rush and to create a slow and steady plan. One that is manageable, realistic and won’t burn myself or my team out.
If you can relate to ‘January Jenna’ and are still struggling to find a reason to adopt my favoured double month Farch, please allow me to draw your attention to its eight full weekends.
You can’t go wrong with Farch.
Jenna Heacock (Gillespie)
LET'S COLLABORATE.
Feedback or inquiries? We’d love to hear from you!
(e) jgillespie@knightaviation.com
(ph) 403-291-3551
(w) knightaviation.com
