2009 Revisited; 2010 Goals and Outlook

2009 has been an interesting year. A lot happened. Let me share some highlights:

• New Job: After leaving obvious hints and making it clear I wanted more to do at my previous job, and being denied the opportunity to do so, I moved onto my current job at Spyder Trap Online Marketing. I moved up from specialist to manager in six months, and have enjoyed personal success while helping the company grow and enjoy its largest month in December.
• Half-Marathon: One of the main goals of 2009 was to complete a half-marathon. My friend Brian and I signed up for the Team Ortho Minneapolis Half-Marathon, first ever. A large part of this goal was taking a hiatus from drinking alcohol. I went five months without having a sip of alcohol. I didn’t want to miss a day of training due to a hangover. Since I did this, I have learned to hate the feeling of a hangover so much more. I finished the half-marathon, but not in the fashion I wanted. I’m still bothered by that… it will influence what I do in 2010.
• Lost another one of my nine lives: October 3rd, I’m driving back from running the Twin Cities 10K, happy about setting a PR for 10K’s. I’m driving on 35W, heading home. It had been drizzling all morning, but nothing too serious. The road had a little weave to the right and then left. And then I lost control. No, I didn’t fall asleep at the wheel. No, I was not speeding. I hydroplaned. Driving in the left lane, I started to float to the right… where all the other cars were. In a split second, knowing I was screwed no matter what, I had to determine the level I, or anyone else was screwed. I luckily avoided all surrounding traffic and crashed into the left concrete wall around 50mph. People have died from less. I walked away unscathed. No bumps, scratches, anything broken. No one else was hurt. Kind of a miracle. Of the nine lives, I think I have two left… I’m 27.
• Different car: Well (see above story), I totaled the Elantra, aka JEN. So, I bought a newer car; 2000 Acura TL. #upgrade.
• Dating: I did some of that, and I don’t do a lot of it, as I am zero/whatever in my life. Kind of reminds me of a fantasy football team of mine this season. The highlights include being told ‘we’re in the friend zone now’, and getting a text message saying ‘I’m too busy to be dating you’. Isn’t dating fun? There’s more, but we’ll keep that private.
• Traveling: Not much to note here, just a trip to San Diego, and a moment at Mt. Soledad, where I fell in love with the view, and gave some decent thought to not getting on my return flight.
• Speaking: I was fortunate enough to be the ‘main event’ at a Twin Cities Thursday Happy Hour event at the James J. Hill Library sponsored by Spyder Trap. Over 150 people showed up to listen to me speak. Never thought I would be a reason for 150 people to go somewhere and listen to me. I hope to do more speaking events in 2010!

I had some goals and resolutions for 2009; below is a recap and grade for each of my goals:

• Move Out: well… haven’t met that goal and won’t meet this goal. I will be carrying this one over for 2010. Grade: Fail

• Improve Overall Health: I’ve done a pretty good job at this, but haven’t been perfect at eating better, consistently working out. Looking back to the first half of the year, I made great strides in eating better because I completely sold out on it; everything had to be perfectly planned and executed. If it was not that, failure was close by. Not wanting to accept failure, I quickly corrected any error I made. I cannot take any step back if I want to get to exactly where I want to be. That is what I will be working on in 2010: taking the progress I made this year and the lessons learned, and taking that any myself up a couple levels. Grade: B

• Smile More In Pictures: A silly goal, but one I’ve done well in. Yes, I like to throw in the occasional ‘I think I’m a model, so I must be super serious while trying to look sexy in this picure’ look, and that will not change. Do not think that is due to a lack of happiness. Though, my current facebook profile pic is my favorite of all time, and I’m not smiling. Grade: A-

• Create & Maintain a Blog: Despite a three month hiatus, I am still blogging. I want to redesign it and have it on my own site instead of blah.wordpress.com; another goal for 2010. Grade: B-

• Eat Out Less: Not doing the best at this. I’m better about making stuff at work for lunch, but could be better overall. I am a little bit better than I was. I should have tracked the dollar amount spent throughout the year, that would have helped me out a lot in determining how my spending is going. Grade: C-

• Ask Questions: Asking questions is something many people have told me is something I do not do enough of. So, I started asking questions. Usually, it’s a good thing. Once, it kind of gave away what someone was getting for Christmas. Everyone else in the room got the hint. I, did not. Grade: B-

• Be More Giving: I like to think I was giving to some degree. Maybe not with donating money, but I did a few things similar to that, and did give my time to many people to help them out with job searching, career advice, stuff on that level. One of the more memorable things I did was go up to the alma mater and speak to my old American Marketing Association (AMA) chapter about personal online branding, social media, and online marketing; it’s something they don’t teach in most colleges, so it’s extra rewarding to go to a group of people and give them a little insight into something they’re not familiar with, and something that’s relevant. Hope the kids get hungry and use what I told them for good. Grade: B (you can always give more)

• No More Drinking: No drinks until completing a half marathon: check. Grade: A

So, that was 2009. What will 2010 bring? Let’s read on:

• Run a full marathon: Yes, you read it right… full marathon. I did a half last year, so why not multiply it by two? Right now, I am thinking about the Minneapolis Marathon, or Grandma’s. Who’s with me?
• Further the career: keep rockin’ like I have, good things will continue to happen.
• Travel: I’m young. I need to travel. More.
• Stop Overthinking: Some of you who are close to me are aware that… I kind of go a little deep into my head. A kind lady has told me I need to ‘get out of my head’. That might be some good advice. Will this happen? I don’t know. I’ll try.
• Never Settle: I have standards for myself and the people around me. I expect great things out of myself and the people around me. Continue this.

That’s what’s on tap for 2010. I hope you come along for the ride.

Good luck to all.

~J