Today is the beginning of the end. And maybe the end of the beginning.
Let me explain. I have been a volunteer leader within HFMA for more than two decades, and as I write this the first of 12 articles over the next year, I know that each one will take me one month closer to the end of that volunteer leadership journey. It is with great honor and humility that I am allowed to serve all of you, our members, as your Chair for 2019-2020. Rest assured, I will do everything I can to help this be a great year for all of us.
For those of you who know me, you know that music is a big part of my life. Lyrics, melodies and rhythms shape my mood, my creativity and my mental health. I have music playing as often as I can. I enjoy going to see live music, and I enjoy playing guitar and writing my own songs. The latter I dub my “guitar therapy.” With that as the backdrop, it will be no surprise to you that my Chair’s theme for this year, Dare You 2 Move (DY2M), has musical origins.
Regardless of where DY2M originated, the important questions are, “What does it mean to me?” and “What does it mean to you?” Over the next 12 months, we will explore and build on that together. I will tell you my answer to the first question, if you tell me your answer to the second one. Deal? Perfect. At its core, DY2M is about being stuck and having this ongoing tension between where we are and where we know we should be. It is about making yourself uncomfortable so you can grow. It is about getting used to saying the “F word” — failure — and embracing it as a path to something better. It is about being vulnerable and dropping this idea that we have to be perfect.
I want us to capture each other’s dares over the next year and learn from them. What better way to build our dare muscles than through sharing? With that in mind, we are launching the Thousand Dares Project. I’m looking for 1,000 stories about how you, or your team or your organization dared to move something personally or professionally.
To share, go to HFMA1000DaresProject, and you’ll be redirected to the “HFMA 1000 Dares Project” page on LinkedIn where you can enter your dare (you’ll need to include the “https://www.” to be redirected). No dare is too small or too big, just show us how you are making yourself uncomfortable to make something better!
Go ahead, do something big. I dare you!
