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Merry Christmas and Happy Everything! Wherever you are and whatever you're celebrating, I hope you're having a great holiday week. This is the final post of the 2011 Annual Review series. Looking back over the year, here's what we've covered thus far ...
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As part of the Annual Review series, I look back at everywhere I went in 2011. As usual, it’s a long list! Despite a lull when I spent several months at home writing a book and preparing for WDS, I still made it to a decent amount of places. All told, I made it to at least thirty countries, including twenty that were new to me. Highlights included a visit to a gorilla reserve in the Eastern Congo and running a half-marathon in Cuba, my final country in the Americas. I also traveled to every province in Canada for the conclusion of my first book tour, and lots of U.S. cities for various meetings, talks, transit stops, and adventures.
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Greetings, everyone. I'm finishing up my latest trip to Africa, and I hope you're well wherever you are. This is the first part of the 2011 Annual Review. Two notes on this year's series: first, at the end of each post over the next few weeks, you're invited to leave your own response.
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Every year since 2006, I've set aside an entire week in December to review the year that has almost passed and look ahead to the next one. I certainly haven't got everything in my life figured out, but I can honestly say that this exercise has been the most helpful exercise in all that has happened in the past six years.
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Greetings, everyone. I made it home from my Annual Review trip and have been enjoying the holiday week at home. Only two days remain in this entire year... which brings us to this non-commercial reminder: If 2010 was an awful year, well, it's all over and now you get a new start. If 2010 was amazing, well, it's all over and now you get a new start ...
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After looking back on the year that's nearly finished, I spend most of my Annual Review time thinking ahead to the forthcoming year. While I wrapped up the 2010 review and looked ahead to 2011, here are a few of the summary notes I wrote to myself:
As a big 2010 came to its conclusion I felt purposeful and satisfied, but also on the verge of overwhelm. 2011 and 2012 will be even bigger – how can I maintain momentum without forgetting to live in the moment? This is the challenge and the opportunity of the year: to create sustainable growth in all areas while retaining a core sense of identity.Read More
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As part of the Annual Review series, I look back at everywhere I went in 2010. It’s a long list! From my usual 20+ new countries to a book tour to every U.S. state, I spent a lot of time on the road this year. In rough chronological order, here’s everywhere I went in 2010:
United States, Canada, New Zealand, Tonga, Samoa, Fiji, Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Maldives, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Germany, Ukraine, Cyprus, Cape Verde, Lithuania, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Morocco, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mali, Algeria, Kazakhstan, Belarus, ThailandRead More
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As I look back on the year during my Annual Review, I think about what went well and what didn't in my business work. I've been self-employed for most of my life and have never had a real job, but the learning process over more than a decade now has been entirely through trial and error (lots of trial, lots of error—but I just keep trying things).
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After a great time with a fun group in Seattle last night, I drove down through Washington and crossed over the Columbia river ... hello, Oregon—also known as state #50 on the 50-state book tour. States #1-49 are now complete, and tonight is the grand finale at Powell's in Portland.
Since time is short and the year is long, I started thinking ahead on the Annual Review even though I don't leave for the actual trip until tomorrow. As explained in previous posts, the review focuses on looking ahead to the next year, but I first spend at least a day looking back on the year that's ending ...
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Every year since 2006, I've set aside an entire week in December to review the year that has almost passed and look ahead to the next one..
I certainly don't think I've got everything figured out in my life, but I can honestly say that this practice has been the most helpful exercise in all that has happened since then ...
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After beginning in early 2008, 2009 was the first full year of AONC articles. It’s also been a pretty full year in general! This wrap-up post includes every article that was published during the year, in chronological order.
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As part of my annual review series, I’m looking back at everywhere I went in 2009. It’s a long list! Let’s kick it off with an observation that’s either interesting, awesome, or troubling (I can’t decide which): when I started writing this post, I had trouble remembering all the places I went this year. I had to go back to old calendars, itineraries, boarding passes, and even my much-loved passport to figure it out.
Read MoreThis is part of my end-of-year series while I’m away on vacation. Future posts will cover business lessons learned, a travel roundup, a list of every post from 2009, and the shape of things to come. Happy December! 2009 has been a truly amazing year for me personally and for AONC. It’s no exaggeration to say that my entire life has shifted dramatically from the place where it was a year ago ...
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This is the first in a series of five articles about my Annual Review. Every year since 2005 I've set aside an entire week in December to look back on the previous year and set goals for the next year. This time I'm taking two weeks (it was an intense year!), but I'm also editing my book and outlining a couple of projects for January at the same time.
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