Ever shouted from the rooftops “I will lose 30 pounds by July!!!!” over cocktails one lovely night in late December, only to find yourself the next day/week/month/cupcake saying “Never again”? You, my friend, may have a resolution hangover.

Started with the best of intentions, these “improvements” to ourselves are a great way to feel like a failure by February 1st. Like an achievement Nostradamus, most of us throw down the gauntlet for ourselves with high hopes, diligently devoting ourselves (for a week or two, at least) to a fleet of Herculean feats all designed to make us better, smarter, prettier or generally more awesome. Most of these items crash and burn with gusto.

But why? With age comes wisdom and with “failure” comes clarity—we simply aren’t focusing on the right things.

This year, the flock is doing something differently. Instead of creating a laundry list of things we need to change to be THE BEST, we’re picking a few areas to focus on that make us feel good AND do better—as a company and as people. Happy 2015, y’all!

Work-Life Integration
Work-life balance is so 2013. To usher in a new era of seamlessness in our professional and personal lives, we aimed for work-life integration in 2014. What is that, you ask? It’s about doing work that we care about and building in what we need as people into our professional lives. From our relationships with each other to how we give back to the community, it was a year of seeing how we could close the gap between work and life.

Instead of promising ourselves “No emails after 6” or “No tweeting in our pajamas!” we’re going to lean in. We’re going to infuse our work life and our life life with the things that make us happy, thus not needing to draw an imaginary line in the sand and saying “This stops here. This starts here.” Life is a blend. Just like you can’t tell where the Cabernet stops and the Syrah begins, some things are just too delicious to keep apart.

Smartypants Efficiency
We’ve got Tweetdeck, yes we do. We’ve got Todoist, how about you? Yep. We went there. The flock is cheerleader excited about the tools we use every day to keep on track of the skabillion things on our plates (hat tip to Harvest, Evernote, Google Drive and Dropbox!). And we’re even more lit up about what we’re going to find in 2015 to take our efficiency to the next level.

Bonding and Building
A team that’s as close-knit as the flock lives and dies on our relationships. We want to make sure to stay connected and keep our ties strong so that we—as a team—can weather any challenge that comes our way.

In the new year, we’re going to focus on activities that help us bond through treating ourselves right and through giving back to others. Healthy food, group exercise and volunteering as a team—2015 is going to be a GREAT year.

Coordinated Cooperation
It’s been said a thousand times over “Work smarter, not harder,” but in today’s speed-of-light business climate, it’s even more critical. Why? Because things are C O M P L I C A T E D. And when you add system after system and process after process to complicated things, the very thing you’re trying to fix usually stays bad or gets worse.

What works better? Smart simplicity. Know what everyone around you does, empower those who can help others work together, remove layers and obstacles to working together, create feedback loops and develop an environment where people encouraged to cooperate to achieve a greater good. Said even more simply: “Suddenly it becomes in my interest to be transparent on my real weaknesses, my real forecast, because I know I will not be blamed if I fail, but if I fail to help or ask for help.”

In 2015, we’re taking Yves Morieux’s words to heart and aiming to make Black Sheep a little less complicated and even more cooperative.

B-Corp Bonus!
And if this weren’t enough, we’re going for our B-Corp status in 2015. Black Sheep has always been working toward a designation as a social enterprise, now we’re making it official.

Reading through the resolutions of others usually helps us hone in on our own. It inspires us and gives us the push we need to see what we’re going to focus on in the new year. How about you? Tell us how you’re going to kick some baaaahhhhs this year in the comments.

Looking ahead to Houston agency life in 2015

New 2015

Regular

We’re starting 2015 strong. We’re not even a full week into January and another GIVE wall is up, inspiring folks to get out in the community and do some good.

Located at 3700 Almeda Road on the Luigi’s Pizzeria building, the latest mural is another reminder to think about ways YOU can help others, support your neighbors and just generally make Houston an even better place to live.

Get on over there, snap a photo and tell the world why you resolve to #GIVEHOU. It’s an easy way to scratch “Be more awesome in 2015” off your list.

(Mural Artist: Wiley Robertson; Project launched in conjunction with UP Art Studio and Fresh Paint/Oink Art.)

A New Year, A New Wall