It has been awhile since I last posted on this blog. A couple of months in fact. What is my excuse, I hear you ask. Well, I suppose there are a couple of them. In November I was concentrating on the Nanowrimo competition. This is the event that challenges you to write 50,000 words in 30 days. They say that 50,000 words in the minimum for a novel. I managed to successfully complete that which I was very happy about. Also December is quite a busy time for the industry that I am working in at the moment. I do have a few days off now to reflect on what happened in 2012 and what I think will happen in 2013. So, Happy New Year everyone. I hope you all celebrated appropriately and are looking forward to the new year as much as I am.
What have I learned in 2012? What are the lessons that I can take away from 2012 that I can use in 2013? Lets have a look. I think that this is a good exercise for everyone and if you have a few spare minutes, try this exercise. You might learn something about yourself and discover something that you can take advantage if this year.
What have I learned in 2012?
1. I have learned who my true friends are. So thank you very much to each and everyone of you. You know who you are. It is in times of hardship that you find out about yourself and you find out about who cares for you and who really, truly wants you to succeed. It is all very well that you find someone entertaining when they are on top of the world but when they are sliding down that slippery path and you can help them get back on their feet then they will remember that for the rest of their lives. If they don't, they are idiots.
2. I have learned that it is important to plan. It is important to plan for your day to day activities, for your monthly activities and for your annual activities. I am not the best at planning for the future even though that was my job for five years in Japan. I have found that if you take a few minutes to sit down and plan then activities can become a lot more easier and as long as you take action on those plans.
3. Things don't happen overnight. For example, this year I want to lose weight but I continue to eat sweet food and not exercise and then when I do eat a salad and spend one hour on the cross trainer I expect to have a six pack the next day. Unfortunately life doesn't work that way. My friend gives me grief for starting things and never following through with it. But I keep on doing all the same things. What was it that Mark Twain said? The definition of insanity is doing all the same things but expecting different results.
4. Working in the hospitality as been interesting and I am really appreciative of the opportunity I have been given in 2012 to work in a catering company and it is interesting that I have always wanted to try and work in bar, I never thought that it would be at the Awapuni Racecourse though. One thing that I have learned is that I would rather be on the other side of the bar, not serving it. I have had some wonderful, both positive and negative experiences at the bar and have gained some great knowledge about life. I understand know that you have to go with your gut when presented with work to do. So often I would wait back for guidance when I knew what to do and should have done it.
5. Cashflow. No, not the Robert Kiyosaki, Rich Dad Poor Dad board game. I have been slack with cash flow the last five years, relying on other people to bail me out when I needed it. For someone who is at my age, this is not good. I have learned that even if you do have a dream and you do want to build a business, you still need to pay bills and eat and you need to have cash coming in. Whether it was pride in not wanting to go back to my old job for cash or some bad advice or whatever I didn't do the correct way. Lets just say that it has been nice in 2012 to get some money coming into the kitty.
6. I like living in Japan, especially in Tokyo. I lived in and around Tokyo for nearly 15 years and I effectively grew up there. I was educated in New Zealand but I became an adult in Tokyo and I would love to go back there in the near future. Whether that is this year or next, I'm not sure.
7. When I put my mind to it I can accomplish things. When I don't give 100% to what I want to do i just give a typical Blair Leighton half assed effort which is not good for anyone and frustrating to myself and the people around me. In November I was determined to finish 50,000 words in the Nanowrimo competition and I did it. It was difficult and challenging at times but to get there was very satisfying and I will if I can like to do it again in 2013.
8. I am fat. I don't exercise enough and I eat the wrong foods, especially too much sugars and junk food, period.
9. Many people have told me over the years and they still tell me now that I am an intelligent person. It is just recently that I have thought about who says these things, who I hang out with and who I talk to. I realize that if I wasn't intelligent these particular people wouldn't say what they say and more importantly they wouldn't hang out with me.
10. One of the most important things I have learned in 2012 is that no matter how bad things are going you can always make the decision to turn them around and that can happen this second. You have two choices, the first choice is to wallow in your mediocrity and just follow the crowd or you can make the decision to do something about it, make the decision to set a goal and follow through. Take appropriate action and to always focus on it and accomplish it.
I wish you all well for 2013. I hope that you can achieve everything that you put your mind to and lets say that we meet in 365 days time to review 2013 and it isn't a sob story but a story of all different achievements and accomplishments. Happy New Year everyone.
