Rethinking your approach to millennials is one example of moving away from a stale concept, and you might also examine other areas of your life and see if it's time to ditch outdated strategies that are no longer useful, like trying out an app that matches you with suitable jobs instead of browsing a job board you've been visiting since the early 2000s.

Play up your unique strengths. To compete in today's financial services marketplace, credit unions know their services must be comparable to those offered by the big banks and the latest, hottest online financial services provider. Online and mobile banking platforms must be flawless, loans must be obtained quickly and with little effort on the consumer's part, and service must be accessible and top-notch. It's time consuming and costly to achieve this, and unfortunately, it's still not enough to win over many consumers. To do that, you have to be on par with the competition and offer something that the competition can't. In 2018, figure out what your credit union uniquely offers and showcase it. For our last print issue, credit union industry veteran and consultant Matt Purvis and ServiceChannel's Tom Buiocchi wrote about the importance of “experience” – and that could very well be the best differentiator credit unions can play up this year. This may include making your branches “destinations” that offer specific services and activities that are best experienced in person. It also means designing experiences in which staff members can make an emotional connection with members.

Celebrating what makes you unique is always a good idea on an individual level as well. Instead of dwelling on your shortcomings at work, think about what you do best and find a new way to leverage that talent in your career.

Look far ahead, but live in the moment. Of all the brain food presented at big. bright. minds. last month, one concept that really blew me away was an analysis of what the world might look like when autonomous vehicles are the primary mode of transportation. In her presentation, Filene Fellow Hope Schau described how kids would be whisked to school in small groups in pod-shaped, driverless “buses,” getting your license when you turn 16 would no longer be a thing, and vehicles would be redesigned so passengers can stretch out and lounge during their rides. I wondered if this – or some version of it – would be a reality once I reached retirement age.

If you're running a business, of course you'll want to consider possible future changes to your market and how you might react (in this case, making loans to cover rideshare expenses might become popular for credit unions down the road). But don't get so wrapped up in looking ahead that you neglect to formulate the best possible business strategy based on what's happening right now.

Living in the moment has always been a challenge for me. I was constantly making plans and living in anticipation of what was coming next instead of fully engaging in my current experience. But when I compared how I envisioned a period of time to be to how it really turned out, there were very few similarities. Last year, I got hooked on meditation and mindfulness, and now I meditate for 10 to 15 minutes a day using the app Calm. It's helped me to slow down my mind and take life one day at a time, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone whose brain seems to be running a mile a minute.

As a final thought – and this is especially for all you social media addicts out there – let's agree to stop comparing ourselves to others once and for all. Limit your comparisons to your past self, and be proud of your unique journey.

Natasha Chilingerian is managing editor for CU Times. She can be reached at [email protected].