I'm not exactly a religious guy, in fact, I'd probably argue that I'm a "Cafeteria Catholic" (oh, the blasphemy) but I've nonetheless always remembered a Mother Theresa quotation:
Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable. Be honest and transparent anyway.
As a leader of people for many years now, I hope my colleagues (former and current) agree that amongst my many weaknesses, a strength of mine is to be (brutally) honest, no matter the scenario as well as being equally transparent with my actions, words, ideas or issues.
I also hope that my goats (aka the 8, 6 and 4 year-olds) along with my better half recognize that amidst my various foibles, I'll be forever honest and transparent in my lifelong actions with them.
In 2012, perhaps for my own personal sake of honesty and tranparency (or is it mid-life crisis stupidity?), I thought publishing my personal goals for the year in this space might be a natural evolutionary step to take. Perhaps it's being vulnerable ... anyway.
In no particular order, my personal goals for 2012 are as follows:
- Cycle the mountains in Lucca, Italy with better half by Aug, 30
- As of 3/31 - booked for July 26
- As of 6/30 - raring to go
- As of 12/12 - Done (great trip)
- Read one book per month
- As of 3/31 - on track
- As of 6/30 - on track
- As of 12/12 - Done (I should do book reviews at some point)
Finish writing 'zat book' by June, 20
- Not going to happen - changing direction
- Oct 31 is the new deadline - published on 3/30/13
- As of 12/12 -DONE - looking forward to publishing
- Secure a publisher of 'zat book' by April, 30
- As of 3/31 - in negotiations
- As of 6/30 - done, I'm excited
- Make 12 new dishes/meals by year-end
- As of 3/31 - zero
- As of 6/30 - two
- As of 12/12 -four (failed miserably)
- Increase Twitter followers to 3,200 by year-end
- As of 3/31 - 2940
- As of 6/30 -3339 (done)
- As of 12/12 -3729 -- thanks everyone
- Increase annual page views of this site to 450,000 by year-end
- As of 3/31 - on target
- As of 6/30 - on target
- As of 12/12 -DONE
- Write 5 magazine articles & successfully publish by Oct, 31
- As of 3/31 - two completed / one in development
- As of 6/30 - two completed / one submitted / one in development
- As of 12/12 -failed (only four)
- Speak at 10 public events by Nov, 15
- As of 3/31 - 10 completed or booked for 2012 (done)
- As of 6/30 - done
- Decrease Facebook 'friends' to 400 by July, 31
- As of 3/31 - decreased to 350 (done)
- As of 6/30 - done
- Decide whether to fully utilize Google+ by March, 31
- As of 3/31 - decided (blog to follow in Q2 - done)
- As of 6/30 - done (blog still coming though)
- As of 12/12 -treating it like a magazine versus a daily newspaper
- Add 150 new contacts to LinkedIn by year-end
- As of 3/31 - 120 contacts added
- As of 6/30 - 300 contacts added (done)
- As of 12/12 -432
- Bring weight back down to 180 lbs by June, 20
- As of 3/31 - no progress
- As of 6/30 - two pounds down
- As of 12/12 -failed (187)
- Devise business plan for 'brave new org' by year-end
- As of 3/31 - no progress
- As of 6/30 - no progress although book deal accomplished
- As of 12/12 -failed (still not sure what to do with it)
- Invite 6 new people/couples for dinner by year-end
- As of 3/31 - no progress
- As of 6/30 - one
- As of 12/12 -failed (only two)
- Donate 50 hours to charity/community by year-end
- As of 3/31 - 6 hours donated
- As of 6/30 - 15 hours donated
- As of 12/12 - done
- Take part in 6 school activities with the goats (two each) by year-end
- As of 3/31 - 2 completed
- As of 6/30 - 4 completed
- As of 12/12 - DONE (8 total)
- Craft 4-year family plan with better half by June, 30
- As of 3/31 - no progress
- As of 6/30 - no progress (waiting for summer vacation now)
- As of 12/12 - kinda done
- Make 24 random "hi, how are you" phone calls to friends & former colleagues by year-end
- As of 3/31 - 10 completed
- As of 6/30 - 12 completed
- As of 12/12 - DONE
- Schedule 36 coffee & lunch "networking catch-ups" by year-end
- As of 3/31 - 13 completed
- As of 6/30 - 24 completed
- As of 12/12 - DONE
- Return to BC Okanagan with "party of five" by Aug, 30
- As of 3/31 - no progress
- As of 6/30 - not happening
Feel free to laugh now.
