Hello guys. Yeah, it’s me, the one who writes an article once in a year. I would love to say a happy new year but so much time has passed that it’s not worth it (a happy valentine would be more appropriate ). Since we are near the end of January, and January has been widely considered like the Monday of the year… and I hate Mondays (I have to work for 12 hours straight), I promise you something: I will take this job seriously now, become a regular writer and not abandon you. (Not that you need me but… )
You know, during January people ask you: Oh, any luck this year? How has 2019 started for you? Any plans? Yes, I will definitely finish Game of Thrones this year. But I am not going to ask you that, instead, I will ask you about 2018. Was it any good? (Come on, it makes perfect sense, we haven’t talked in a while… ok don’t answer it.)
A lot of things happened to me though. To begin with, I got engaged. For me it doesn’t make any difference (except that I am officially screwed, my family is happy, my friends are not :P), we’ve been together for 7 years now. I changed my job ( that was quite refreshing). I stopped going to the gym (ok that was bad, in fact, I am waiting for my orthopedist as I write this). As you know, I create a resolution every year. Again I completed a few, tried at some and failed big at others. It happens (three years in a row). I am happy to say that I kept up with my reading, 24 books in total last year, so I think have created a habit (did I?).
But what I really want to share is what 2018 means for me, and what lies ahead. I consider 2018 my build-up year, a year when the most important things were gathering knowledge, forging connections, finding ideas; a year when I challenged myself in a different type of projects (most of them never saw the light). I started making some plans, then changed those plans, later reducing and at the end dropping them altogether. I had a river of ideas flowing through my mind, and on that river, a number of desires floating. It was chaotic, fast.
I realized I had to set back and think (needless to say, I lost some months in the process 😛 ), think about the past, the future, and the dream. I am not going to talk about the process, because what may have worked for me, doesn’t mean it will work for somebody else. I tried a lot: examining things from another angle, setting self-imposed limits, separating work from life, asking what-ifs. All might work, or none at all. For me setting self-imposed limits it was one of the best things I did.
What I like to stress is the need for this process. You need to clear the noise out of you. Some things that seem good, might not deliver what you really need. Maybe a year is too much (it really is :P), but take some time. Once you articulate the vision about your future, the path you need to follow becomes obvious.
When I discuss this topic with my students, I tell them about the difference between a business model and a business plan. When you have a startup, a newly found company, you will find yourself in the middle of actions you must take, sometimes confusing or contradicting. That’s because at first you need to develop a business model, how an entity will create, deliver and capture value. Then you develop a set of actions which comprise of a plan. Plans change every now and then. Models tend to stay the same for a long period of time.
Now, fully entering this year, I would like my 2019 to be my step up year. Some of the actions are still unclear to me, but I know the basic steps I must take, the value that I wanna create and how to grow on that value. As I told you at the beginning the very first thing that I will do is become regular at writing articles for my blog. My challenge beside 24in365 (reading 24 books in a year) will be 36in365 (writing 36 articles in a year). If I am consistent, I believe it will improve my writing skills. This article was very personal, but I have a list of topics that I want to cover.
So cheers to that! 😀 I will catch up with you pretty soon. And don’t forget, consider taking some time once in a while.
Ops I forgot, also don’t forget to subscribe and share this article if you like it.
