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I’m fresh off a high from attending Oprah’s “2020 Vision Tour” last month (yes, she visited Minnesota in January, maybe because as this video shows she’s a huge fan of Mary Tyler Moore).  So I’m extra excited to share the latest “list” installment from Nina Flax of Mayer Brown (here’s the last one):

Another new year, another time many of us are setting goals and making resolutions. As a quick recap, the main goal I shared last year was reading more books for pleasure. Of the 12 books on my list, I read 3 – Bad Blood, The Girl Who Smiled Beads and The Queen’s Poisoner (and the rest of the Kingfountain series). I also read the Crazy Rich Asians series and one other book – bringing me to a grand total of 14. Which I think is a good first step to prioritizing reading for pleasure, but certainly improvable. So for this new year, I decided to double down on reading, formalize watching less TV (because since it was a “soft” goal last year, I of course let it slip) as well as numericize other things (because I clearly do better with specifics and measurements). For accountability’s sake (and thank you for giving me that feeling around reading last year!), here is what I’ve landed on:

1. Read More Books For Pleasure. My goal for this year is 28. I am hoping I exceed this number, but we will see… I decided to not choose my books in advance this year, because doing so last year actually discouraged me a bit. I tried to force myself to read ones from my list that just were not clicking. Where in previous years I would quickly move on if I wasn’t absorbed in the first chapter or two, this past year I wasted time trying to force myself to read words I clearly was not interested in. Several books started and not finished despite more time spent = lesson learned!

2. Work Out At Least Once a Week. Working out at all was a goal for last year. I did work out – some. But now that I am at an age where I definitely do not feel like I’m 20 anymore, I want to take the fact that I only have one body and want it to be healthier for longer more seriously. Plus, framing this as something I’m doing also for the sake of the child motivates me. Plus, I have a friend who said she wants to do this as well, and we agreed we would hold each other accountable.

3. Watch Less TV. I am going to try to limit TV, and want to try to watch only as I am working out. So if I want to finish watching the remainder of The Originals series (I have seen like every other vampire thing out there, and had not yet seen this, so I started over the holiday season, which = bad news for my 2019 soft goal), I better get on a bike or treadmill!

4. Track What Matters Most. One of my funniest, most driven friend’s father is Marshall Goldsmith, who is a leading business educator and coach. I heard many moons ago about his daily questions spreadsheet. I have wanted to implement something like this, but have not previously prioritized it. This year, it is a priority. I don’t think I’m going to have all of the questions he does (I really do not want to track my weight every day), nor will I have someone calling me every day to track for me (how cool would that be though?!), but I have come up with a few things I would like to watch more closely. Some on my list: Was I there at bed time for my son? Did I speak to my parents? Did I say or do something nice for my husband? Did I exercise? Did I watch TV when I was not exercising? Did I spend time reading for pleasure? As you can see, some redundancy built in to encourage meeting my other goals!

As in 2019, I will end this post with a quote from someone I knew as a child – Each year you should take a long walk, make a new friend and read a good book. Here’s to 2020 being great.

Nasdaq Clarifies “Closing Price” for Transactions Other than Public Offerings

Last week, this Notice of Filing and Effectiveness says that Nasdaq filed a proposed rule change clarifying the term “closing price” in Rule 5635(d)(1)(A) relating to shareholder approval for transactions other than public offerings. The rule change clarifies that closing price means the Nasdaq Official Closing Price (as reflected on Nasdaq.com). The Notice says there may have been some confusion and that Nasdaq believes this change will reflect Nasdaq’s original intent when adopting the amendment to Rule 5635(d) in September 2018.

More on “The Mentor Blog”

We continue to post new items daily on our blog – “The Mentor Blog” – for TheCorporateCounsel.net members.  Members can sign up to get that blog pushed out to them via email whenever there is a new entry by simply entering their email address on the left side of that blog. Here are some of the latest entries:

– D&O: Common Law & Statutory Claims Aren’t Covered “Securities Claims”

– Shareholder Engagement Trends

– Auditor Independence: What Audit Committees Should Watch For

– 5 Tips For Creating a “Tech-Savvy” Board

– Executive Successions: Include Process for “SOX” Certifications

– Lynn Jokela