My company's senior vice president recently held his quarterly "town hall" with our entire team—more than 100 employees. Much of the time was spent on reflection and collaboration as different teams showcased their year-end wrap ups reporting on the number of leads generated, number of emails sent, number of opportunities won or lost, and so on.

Reflection is important, yet very few companies give their employees time for reflection, especially when competitive pressures are escalating. Instead, the imperative is usually to double down and work harder—don't stop to think, just drive forward.

However, reflecting on what you've done teaches you to do it better next time, according to an article in the Harvard Business Journal based on research by Francesca Gino and Gary Pisano of Harvard Business School, Giada Di Stefano of HEC Paris and Bradley Staats of the University of North Carolina. The researchers conducted a series of studies, all showing that reflection boosts performance.

So, on this last day of 2018, as you are looking for opportunities to stretch and grow in the coming year, I'd like to reflect on my experience as a writer and contributor to Promotional Consultant Today.

Seven years. 364 weeks. 1,764 blog posts. 5,292 hours. Those numbers represent my investment in developing the content that's been delivered daily to your inbox during that time.

Sales. Leadership. Organizational change. Marketing. Technology. Time management. Goal-setting. These are just a few of the hundreds of topics we've addressed in Promotional Consultant Today.

Daily delivery. Reader feedback. Ongoing support through PPAI. Our mutual connection with Promotional Consultant Today has allowed for great dialog and a link with many readers and members of PPAI throughout the years and has served as a bridge between industry support and the daily challenges of our collective businesses.

The promotional products industry is an incredible community of professionals who focus on the continued growth and impact of the medium across multiple vertical industries. It's an industry that allows for both successful entrepreneurialism and corporate growth. It's an industry of both tradition and innovation. It's a pool of talent that ranges from Millennials to seasoned veterans. It's an industry that I've been very fortunate to be a part of since 2005 when I was a PPAI staff member.

As you may have noted in recent PCTs, I've taken on a new role and greater responsibilities in my full-time job and must put my energies into this new fork in the road. My time contributing to PCT has come to an end. However, I am very pleased to say that PCT will continue with a fresh, new perspective and even more information to help your business. Our new contributor, Audrey Sellers, will begin providing content to you starting January 2, 2019.

Thank you to every reader and supporter of Promotional Consultant Today. It's been an honor to be part of your daily ritual for the past seven years. It's been a wonderful joy to work with the PPAI Publications team and its editor, Tina Berres Filipski. And it's been a great blessing to be a part of the promotional products industry.

Happy New Year to all and cheers to your growth and prosperity in 2019.

Source: Cassandra Johnson is a tech-savvy marketing communications consultant and freelance writer. She reports on the latest trends in the promotional products industry, public relations, direct marketing, e-marketing and more. She supports clients in a variety of industries, including promotional products, hospitality, financial services and technology.