Every year I write some professional and personal goals to achieve by the end of the year. It was no different for 2014. Professionally, it was a big year for me so I’m happy how things have transpired.
Professional Goals |
And Here Are the Results for 2014! |
| Activate Activate Learning Solutions | Check. |
| Quit Full Time Work. Go Freelance | Check. |
| Grow Third Place into Other Cities | Check. To date we have 206 members in 5 cities Melbourne; Sydney; Newcastle; Adelaide and Brisbane -with a possible one starting in Italy as well (we’ll wait and see for this). Third Place is now morphing into co-working & co-learning opportunities & places by integrating meetup events around conferences, events and community hubs as well as the usual social networking drinks, lunches and dinners. We’ve had some wonderful meetups with Harold Jarche, Jane Hart, Clark Quinn, Laura Overton, Ryan Tracey and many others. Third Place will continue to grow in 2015…
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| Increase Business Acumen & Come up with Value Proposition &…Stick With It | Three things in one all tied in with a development skill; a gap and a realisation all rolled into one. I came up with my value proposition after long deliberation and sleepless nights but the answer revealed itself as to what work I find enjoyable and how I prefer to work with my clients. Still working on business acumen but it’s becoming obvious that I need some financial and taxation knowledge and will have to risk talking to experts about this but I fear I may fall asleep while they are explaining things to me. Exploring MOOC options but think self-directed learning is NOT the answer when it comes to learning what I consider a dry topic – this is where I actually need a classroom, a teacher, a cane and some No Doz.
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| Partner with People for Business Development | I have partnered with a few people whom I have worked with in the past, trust and value their work. These people have referred work to me or provided me leads for new work and as always, appreciate and value their support. Thank you! |
| Finish the Entrepreneurship Course | I actually don’t remember this – obviously it was a memorable course. Worse still, it was about entrepreneurship – and I didn’t finish it. FAIL! |
| Read More & Sketch Note or Review each book for Key Learning Points | I love to read. I read A LOT. I mean, A LOT. However with the Kindle, I find I can’t remember a lot of what I read unlike a physical book. Instead, I highlight passages out of eBooks then use Kindle Notes to collate these passages then print them out and scribble and highlight notes. Go figure – I should have just bought the physical book. |
| Write out workshop outlines and plans for Activate Learning Solutions | Check. Spent the first couple of months developing workshops and webinars on Yammer for Learning & Networking and Twitter for Learning & Networking; as well as some other smaller coaching services around Using Social Tools for Learning and Networking. Although elements of these have all been integrated into my client consultative and coaching work, I find every client problem requires different and more customised solutions. Still, it’s nice to know that I can pull these out when I need to. There’s ‘comfort in content’ sometimes – but it needs to be customised. I’d be mortified if I’m churning out a ‘one size fits all’ solution. Where’s that No Doz? |
| Plan an e-Book or Write it (If Time) | People have mentioned to me to write a book. But I’m stumped. On what? Much of my writing is about my work, reflections of the work I have done – sometimes quirky, sometimes not. Also many of my ideas are simply reflections and applications of what other people have written and done – so I don’t want to copy that. I’ve been writing since I was 15 through journals, letters to friends and family and personal blogs. If anything, I’d like to have a go at writing some fiction using personal Walter Mitty-like experiences over the years with “larger than life” characters I have met and worked with and for, in particularly during my Navy years which were quite an adventure. That would be a laugh. A “warry spin”… |
| Collaborate on a Joint Project with an International Partner | There’s a couple of instances here that are just forming. They may not transpire to anything but I keep it open – you never know what will come of them. |
It was painfully obvious that I needed to work more on my personal goals. The news isn’t good here so lots more work for me in 2015.
Personal Goals |
And Here are the Results for 2014! |
| “Minimise, Declutter & Spend Less on as Stuff Is Crap” | My exact words. Massive decluttering occurred through the year; books, in line skating gear; old sporting equipment of the 80’s; CDs, videos, board games, books; clothes…OUT THEY WENT! Every few years I go through a decluttering phase as it amazes me how much ‘stuff’ we can accrue over the years. Despite the cleanout, the garage still seems full. I’m not much of a hoarder and sometimes I entertain thoughts of “if I had one back pack to survive in the zombie apocalypse, what would I take?” then I look at my yarn, knitting, patterns, needles, slow cooker, Kindle, tablet, shoes, clothes, bags, hats, accessories, waffle maker …frankly, all critical items when the world ends. |
| Broaden Crochet Skills | FAIL! Didn’t happen. Hubby urged me to strongly reconsider hanging up the crafted crocheted Christmas stars this year. Guess he made his feelings known about crochet… |
| Join Photography Club | FAIL! No time. Will have to resort to using filters and photography apps to make my photos bearably passable. Maybe in new year?
Although, what I did find this year was a brilliant photographer, Warren Kirk on Flickr who takes photos of vintage homes and shops in Melbourne. The photos evoke images of my past and childhood. Through his photos, he’s made me find and visit old cafes (NOT where you’ll find hipsters) to have coffee, cake and a chat with their elderly owners who shuffle around you and serve you a lukewarm cappuccino and a sausage roll. I feel that once they go, we’ll lose this glimpse of the past. So thank you Warren! |
| More Bartering | What on earth possessed me to write this down? |
| Go Full Paleo | FAIL! No willpower whatsoever especially when faced with cheese, carbs and chocolate. |
| Walk Everyday | Sort of. Not every day but I did walk thanks to FitBit. I’ve explored my local area and know the streets of my suburb like the “back of my hand” as they say. |
| Go to Knitting Group More Often | Check. Made more of an effort this year and yes, even found a client! |
| Explore My City More | MEH. Got lost in my city more like. I did explore some hipster inner city suburbs and stumbled upon some great finds. Unfortunately my lack of photography skills and use of filters on apps didn’t really help to keep an artful visual record of my visits. Just be thankful you’re not my Facebook friends – they copped these psychedelic photos in their newsfeed. |
| Destash Yarn. DO.NOT.BUY. ANY. NEW. YARN. | FAIL! The National Bendigo Wool and Sheep Show then happened. That’s all I have to say about that. |
End of the Year Review http://t.co/8cHsXr4L4T via @ActivateLearn
What a year!
End of the Year Review http://t.co/3cZKRU6fZA via @ActivateLearn
End of the Year Review http://t.co/DJIZswUIcn via @ActivateLearn
A good year by all accounts Helen but I have a funny feeling 2015 is going to be bigger and better for you! Your star is shinning ever so bright and in 2015 it will light up the learning world.
Thanks for all the interaction, discussion, banter and inspiration in 2014 – and I hope it continues in 2015 when we once again embark on our learning journey.
Third Place has been a major success and a personal thanks for your support of my #Ozlearn venture.
All the best for 2015.
Ta Leme !
Cool Idea, this post comes exactly when I was considering doing something similar for 2015. Now I have an example.I’m impressed by your transparency and your organization.
Regarding Personal Goals welcome to the club Helen. As an entrepreneur maintaining goals on personal level is a challenge. Maintaing a personal and social life outside of work is already great. Maybe it’s right to say that Professional goals as a whole just became a mamouth among the personal goal. My unfinished paintings are taking the dust.
FWIIW forget learning taxation. It changes all the time and such a competency used once a year is hard to bring to mastery. What is interesting is cashflow management and drilling into the specific fields of taxation and accounting relative to you business. This because accountants have a general knowledge and don’t care learning specifics of niche. Once you know which texts could help you just bring his attention of it and let him do his homework 🙂
Good points Bruno! Thank you for the comment. Always appreciated. I’ve begun thinking about my personal goals for 2015 but also how to balance these more with my professional ones. My husband said to me, “you’re always working – always ‘on'” as he sees me reading, talking, writing, tweeting and meeting people all related to learning. Even my knitting and ukulele playing are still linked with my work… so it got me thinking about having to do something completely different. I’ve been thinking that music and sport are two areas where I’m seriously lacking. Maybe these are two areas for me to focus on that takes me away from always thinking about work – or linking my personal goals to professional?….food for thought….
Thank you for your kind words Con, I really appreciate them as always. Hope 2015 is a happy, healthy and prosperous one for all. Thank you for your support too and for being the enthusiastic voice of reason that gets me thinking of alternative perspectives or perceptions I haven’t otherwise have thought. You can count of my continued support of #OzLearn!
Yes, pretty big. Now, let’s see what 2015 will hold….
I’m also inspired by this list. Thanks so much for sharing it!
All the best to you in 2015.
Thanks so much for this reply, it’s greatly appreciated. Hope you achieved all that you wanted in 2014 – let’s look forward to a safe, wonderful new year!