I love the new year.  It's a so nice to have a time where a) pretty much everyone takes a break for a few weeks and b) you get to magically clean the slate and start fresh.  Rest, and a new start. Awesome. For the past few years, I've been writing down my goals for the coming year at the turn of the year.  It feels good to do, and it's always amazing to look back at what you thought your year was going to be like, especially a year or two down the road. This year, I'm going to take it a step further and put some goals down in public, here.  Is suppose this is a bit self-indulgent, and maybe not super insightful, so feel free to stop reading right now. Else, without further adieu, here's what I'm looking forward to in 2011:

• Blogging more -- I like blogging here, but still don't have a great routine for fitting it in.  I have a backlog of posts that I'm slowly working through, and then I'd like to be a bit more real-time.  My intention is to blog once a week.  Once I hit publish, I'll be one-for-one ;)

• Getting and staying healthy -- 2010 was a weird year, with some unexpected health issues. It turns out I am not superman and I am going to have to work a bit harder at being healthy -- which means more exercise (hard) and healthier eating (super hard).

• Getting "all the way there" at work -- it's been an amazing few years at OpenPlans, and a particularly interesting 2010.  Last year, we (meaning my corner of OpenPlans, called Civic Works) went from practically zero revenue to booking nearly $1.5mm -- in the context of losing our primary funding source due to the effects of the LimeWire lawsuit.  This year, we make it or we don't -- taking what we've built thus far, shaping it up right and making it sustainable.  It's going to be fun, and I'm happy to say that we're starting out the new year by hiring some incredible new people who will help us make it happen.

• Planning ahead -- this is a perennial item on the list, and one that I'm getting better at, but still not all the way there.  I'm busy -- we're all busy -- and my achilles heel is focusing too much on the near term.  I'm good at (or maybe just lucky?) pulling things together close to the last minute, but it doesn't feel great and it's probably not healthy (for me personally, or for my colleagues).

Those are the biggies.  The interesting thing to me, as I look at these and think back on prior years, is how long it takes to change.  You can't change overnight.  You have to work at it.  So on the one hand, it's incredibly slow; but on the other, it's always surprising to see real change once it's happened. So, see you later 2010; it was nice knowing you.  Hey there, 2011; let's be friends.

I love the new year.  It's a so nice to have a time where a) pretty much everyone takes a break for a few weeks and b) you get to magically clean the slate and start fresh.  Rest, and a new start. Awesome. For the past few years, I've been writing down my goals for the coming year at the turn of the year.  It feels good to do, and it's always amazing to look back at what you thought your year was going to be like, especially a year or two down the road. This year, I'm going to take it a step further and put some goals down in public, here.  Is suppose this is a bit self-indulgent, and maybe not super insightful, so feel free to stop reading right now. Else, without further adieu, here's what I'm looking forward to in 2011:

• Blogging more -- I like blogging here, but still don't have a great routine for fitting it in.  I have a backlog of posts that I'm slowly working through, and then I'd like to be a bit more real-time.  My intention is to blog once a week.  Once I hit publish, I'll be one-for-one ;)

• Getting and staying healthy -- 2010 was a weird year, with some unexpected health issues. It turns out I am not superman and I am going to have to work a bit harder at being healthy -- which means more exercise (hard) and healthier eating (super hard).

• Getting "all the way there" at work -- it's been an amazing few years at OpenPlans, and a particularly interesting 2010.  Last year, we (meaning my corner of OpenPlans, called Civic Works) went from practically zero revenue to booking nearly $1.5mm -- in the context of losing our primary funding source due to the effects of the LimeWire lawsuit.  This year, we make it or we don't -- taking what we've built thus far, shaping it up right and making it sustainable.  It's going to be fun, and I'm happy to say that we're starting out the new year by hiring some incredible new people who will help us make it happen.

• Planning ahead -- this is a perennial item on the list, and one that I'm getting better at, but still not all the way there.  I'm busy -- we're all busy -- and my achilles heel is focusing too much on the near term.  I'm good at (or maybe just lucky?) pulling things together close to the last minute, but it doesn't feel great and it's probably not healthy (for me personally, or for my colleagues).

Those are the biggies.  The interesting thing to me, as I look at these and think back on prior years, is how long it takes to change.  You can't change overnight.  You have to work at it.  So on the one hand, it's incredibly slow; but on the other, it's always surprising to see real change once it's happened. So, see you later 2010; it was nice knowing you.  Hey there, 2011; let's be friends.