In the credit union industry, where it's common for employees to juggle roles like marketing strategist, compliance specialist and business development officer in a single day, it's especially hard to slow down and acknowledge small accomplishments. But doing so is worth it; in my experience, it can lead to increased confidence, motivation to pursue new work projects and overall career satisfaction.

As 2018 comes to a close, let's give ourselves a pat on the back for not only what we did as individuals, but as an industry. Here are a few things credit unions can be proud of this year:

We helped those who needed it most. 2018 has not been an easy year from a natural disaster standpoint. Credit unions and members in California faced devastating fires in the summer and again in the fall, Hurricane Florence plummeted into the east coast in September and Hurricane Michael devastated the Florida panhandle a month later.

As news of Florence poured in, there was a general feeling that this was the storm of the year. Credit unions rallied to raise funds and support those impacted. Then when Michael hit, we couldn't help but notice a quieter, slower response from the national media and our contacts in the credit union world, even though the storm itself was much worse. Were people tapped out on hurricane season already? Had they exhausted most of their resources on providing aid after the year's other disasters? We started to worry that as storms continue to increase in strength and frequency going forward, the industry won't be able to keep up with the amount of relief needed.

Credit unions will need to start ramping up their disaster preparation and recovery plans to keep pace with the changing climate. But first, let's recognize that in a year when the impacts of natural disasters took many by surprise, credit unions did step up. We're currently waiting on final numbers on the money raised for each 2018 disaster through CUAid, the National Credit Union Foundation's disaster relief fund, but a quick search of "Hurricane Florence" and "Hurricane Michael" in my press release email folder showed an equal response from the credit union community for each storm (although news of aid for Michael victims trickled in about a week later in comparison). Credit unions like IBM Southeast Employees' CU, Christian Community CU and USF FCU came through with tens of thousands of dollars, and some storm victims are better off because of them.

We reinvented the credit union branch. Too often, we hear from experts on where credit unions are lacking or what they're not doing enough of. Either they're not keeping up with compliance requirements quickly enough, not investing enough on the cybersecurity front, lacking in their mobile app functionality or being outspent by banks in advertising dollars – leaving them doomed to disappear if they don't act now, according to some fear-mongers.

But one trend that picked up steam this year demonstrated that credit unions should congratulate themselves for making a major effort to set themselves apart from the competition. Instead of hearing about credit unions shutting down branches in favor of online-only member interaction, CU Times received announcement after announcement of new branch openings – many of them modern, high-tech and offering new reasons for members to maintain in-person banking relationships. We felt the trend was significant enough that next year, we'll be publishing two issues focused on "CU Branch Evolution" in March and September.

We took steps toward increasing consumer awareness of CUs. At the California and Nevada Credit Union League's REACH conference earlier this month, I finally learned the details of the "Open Your Eyes to a Credit Union" campaign, which CUNA first announced in February and is tentatively set to launch in January 2019. It's a multi-channel, national advertising campaign with video, display and in-branch elements, plus a consumer-focused website with a credit union finder tool, and is designed to dispel common myths about credit unions. Here's the catch: It'll cost around $100 million, and credit unions are expected to pay for the majority of it.

Whether enough money will be raised to complete the project, and whether it will deliver the intended results, is still unknown. But the efforts made on it so far have started conversations about the importance of awareness and reputation to the CU industry's future, and offered some good messaging guidelines for credit union marketers.

There will always be more to do and things to improve on, but looking back at 2018, as an industry, we should be proud. And on an individual level, you should be, too. Instead of panicking over your pre-holiday break to-do list, try putting it away for a minute to create a quick "done" list. Just to see how it feels.

Natasha Chilingerian

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