There’s always a push to “reset” at the end of the year. New goals, new plans, new mindset. Clean slate thinking sounds great, but it ignores something more important than starting over. Momentum.
You didn’t get here by accident. Every room that didn’t come online cleanly. Every 7:55 a.m. panic call before an 8:00 class. Every ticket that made no sense until it suddenly did. Every time you had to figure it out without a manual. That’s not noise. That’s fuel.
The problem is that most people don’t use it.
In higher ed AV, we move fast when we must and forget just as quickly. Quarter starts, semester resets, conference season, budget cycles. We solve, close, move on. There’s rarely a pause to ask what actually changed because of our work. Not just what got fixed, but what got better.
If you want a path forward, you don’t start by looking ahead. You start by taking inventory.
What did you build this year that didn’t exist before?
What problems stopped recurring because you addressed them at the root?
What relationships got stronger because you showed up consistently?
What did you say no to that made everything else work better?
That last one matters more than people admit. Growth isn’t just adding. It’s deciding what not to carry forward.
This is where the mindset piece comes in. Not the motivational poster version. The operational version.
An empowered mindset in this field means understanding that you are not just reacting to problems. You are shaping environments. Every standard you set, every system you simplify, every process you clean up makes the next semester, the next install, the next hire better.
That’s the difference between doing the job and advancing the field.
And you don’t do that alone.
One of the biggest shifts I’ve seen through HETMA and across higher ed AV is the move away from isolated problem solving. The days of every campus figuring everything out on its own are fading. Slowly, but they are.
When you connect with others in this space, you accelerate everything. You avoid mistakes you haven’t made yet. You validate decisions that felt like guesses. You get pulled forward by people who are already where you’re trying to go.
That only works if you show up honestly.
Not just the wins. The failures. The rooms that didn’t work. The designs that missed. The vendors that overpromised. That’s the real currency of this community.
If the goal is 10,000 engaged members, it’s not about a number. It’s about density. Enough people share real experiences that no one is solving problems in a vacuum anymore.
So where does accountability come in?
It’s easy to say you’re busy. Everyone in this field is busy. The question is whether your effort is directional.
Did you improve something that will still matter a year from now?
Did you help someone else move faster or avoid a mistake?
Did you document, share, or contribute in a way that outlives the immediate task?
If the answer is no, that’s not a failure. It’s a signal.
The path forward isn’t about doing more. It’s about being intentional about what you’re already doing.
Take what you learned this year and actually use it. Build on it. Share it. Let it compound.
That’s how you fuel the fire.
And if we do this right, we don’t just carry momentum into next year. We build something that keeps accelerating long after any single project, semester, or role.
We’re not starting over.
We’re just getting started.
