Just like 2006 I set myself a list of goals to achieve this year. If 2006 was about goal setting and getting out of my comfort zone, I'd say that 2007 was about personal and professional development. The reason I phrased it like that was because I spent most of the year having to do things necessary to further myself, which weren't necessarily related to the original goals I set earlier. It was a bit disappointing not being able to address what I wanted to do initially, but they definitely weren't setbacks. In hindsight I guess it taught me to be realistic, focus on what's really important and not to take on too many things at once.
Particularly near the end of the year, 2007 was also the time to decide on where I should be heading in the next couple of years, in terms of my life and career. I realised that I couldn't sit on my arse and wait for things to happen. The traditional Kiwi OE was something I had considered for the last year and a half. But it was only around the last 2 months of this year that I've finally resolved this, and I plan to go on my OE in mid 2008. What a really big step to take. This year made me truly realise that I'm not getting any younger, and that's probably the main reason why I've decided to go on my OE while I am still able. I'm in good health, still in my 20s, not in a relationship and financially stable. All signs point to travel.
Anyway, here's a rundown of what happened this year.
With four major sporting competitions held this year, you'd think our nation's sporting teams would, at least, bring some glory home. However, the sporting success of the nation was about as profound as my indoor cricket batting average. We meekly surrendered in the Cricket, got comprehensively outsailed in the America's Cup, pathetically choked in the Rugby, and stumbled at the final hurdle in the Netball. On the other hand, I managed to meet most of my sporting/physical goals, even though they didn't compare to the glory of winning a World Cup.
With a marathon under my belt, I participated in more running events this year, taking part in two marathons, three half marathons, and a handful of smaller races and off-road runs. The beginning of the year saw a couple of indifferent running performances, particularly in the Rotorua Marathon, which kicked my arse. I eventually finished in 5 hours 20 seconds. Two months later, I got sidelined with a knee injury. At this point, I questioned whether I would be ready in time for the Auckland marathon. But I managed to get back into training, albeit very slowly. Since I didn't have much time to prepare, I decided to mix up my training programme. I did less long runs and emphasised shorter, faster running sessions. This allowed me to set 3 personal bests in half marathon, marathon and 5 km distances. Of course the sweetest achievement was breaking 4 hours in the marathon; I finished with a time of 3 hours 51 minutes and 29 seconds. Every aspect of the marathon preparation was perfect. Having completed 3 marathons, I believe I have the experience in training and racing, and I can definitely go faster if I work at it.
On the Toastmasters front, my Toastmasters experience has grown to new levels. After over a year of being a Toastmaster I achieved my Competent Communicator award, having completed 10 speeches from the Competent Communicator manual. Immediately after that I got elected club president, so now I'm in charge of running the club and ensuring club success. In an effort to lead by example, I entered the Toastmasters Humourous Speech Contest. The speech was titled "Holidaying on the Wrong Boat", and it elicited lots of laughs from everyone in the audience. I came 1st in the Area contest and 2nd in the Division contest. The person who beat me in the Division contest advanced to the District contest, placing 2nd overall. So I was competing against some exceptional speakers, and they all did very well. But considering that most of these speakers are all experienced Toastmasters, and me being quite young and inexperienced, I'd consider that a remarkable achievement. There's still 6 months to go in my tenure as President, and my energies will be focused on achieving my Competent Leader award, ensuring the club achieves Distinguished Club status, and ensuring that the club will have a healthy membership base when my term is finished.
Work has presented me with new challenges. At the start of the year I was moved into a new and upcoming group within the organisation. This has meant a move away from product development work and more towards custom development, testing and rapid configuration of solutions for a client. In this line of work, I've managed to pick up other kinds of technical skills that I wouldn't have learned if I was a developer. And I became more familiar with the product suite. The custom development work that I've done has managed to keep my development skills in use, but only at a very narrow level. Also, the testing and configuration work I've done has opened doors for me to work as an Implementation Consultant. Yes, I know it's moving far away from the development jobs that I've started out in, but, considering that I would like to travel next year, it just seems like the natural thing to do. There are no development jobs overseas. Of course I could look for purely development work overseas, but it would save me the headaches and anxiety of job-hunting in a foreign land if I just ask for a transfer. I hope they can appropriate.
Mentally, or academically should I say, I've managed to read one book a month. I mostly read biographies as opposed to fiction. Most of the personalities behind the books were sportsmen, from triathlon to cricket, marathon to rugby. But I also read about the lives of CEOs, politicians, doctors, plane crash survivors and even a convicted drug dealer. Reading these kinds of literature gave me an insight of their lives, challenges, ordeals and what it took to be successful (the successful part obviously doesn't apply to the drug dealer though!).
In other news, I had a hand in inspiring the idea behind the most successful Christmas party Orion has ever organised. There was a competition where everyone could contribute their Christmas party idea, the best idea would be used, and the winner got a $50 wine voucher. The winner was yours truly. The party was a black tie theme. Everyone (well most) got dressed up to the nines, and it seemed that everyone had a great time. The venue, food and entertainment was first class. I even got to meet the wonderful ladies behind the Mermaids Dance Band: Amber Claire and Joe Cotton.
And I even got to be the Orion Santa at the Family Christmas Party. I thought it was great to dress up as a convincing Santa, give laughs to everyone and keep the kids happy with their presents. I guess I could make a fool of myself for 20 or so minutes.
Now to things which I have failed to do for whatever reason:
The flipside of marathon training meant less time for strength training in the gym. During marathon training, I stayed away from the circuit. When I finally got back on the circuit, I was struggling to push the weight that I used to push before. The weight for my leg exercises has dropped 40 pounds. The rest of the exercises I am now managing to push the same weight, or slightly under, but the legs are still 20 pounds less than before. There is just no way to do strength training and marathon training together. I've thought about the best way to get the best of both worlds, and if I want to continue strength training, I may need to reduce the number of times I do a marathon, be selective of the amount of racing I do in a year, or concentrate on shorter runs.
I would have liked to get my Sun Certified Java Developer certification this year. However due to other commitments and tasks I only got around to purchasing the assignment at the end of the year. I am determined to finish this by the time I go on my OE. This is a high priority and I'll report on this when I've completed it, watch this space!
And again, I didn't get around to exploring new interests and sports (well perhaps I picked up table tennis at work, but I won't report any more on that). For the past couple of years I've wanted to expand my limited cooking skills and get into DIY but these have totally fallen off the 2007 radar. Proper cooking (and I don't mean boiling eggs and cooking instant noodles) is going to be essential if I go overseas next year.
Once again relationships haven't featured at all in 2007. Because of the activities that I chose to do this year, I didn't find that special lady. I doubt that 2008 will allow me to focus on relationships since I've chosen to go overseas. I may meet someone abroad, but I know that I'm not ready to settle down just yet.
So that basically sums up what I've done this year. The goals have been a mixed bag, but it was mostly about personal and professional development, which I think is important heading into next year and when I head abroad. Hence, 2007 has been a good year. I've managed to keep fit, improve my public speaking, and do different stuff at work, which could be my ticket to working overseas.
So 2008 will bring many challenges, the biggest being the decision to travel. Right now, my mind is in a jumble deciding what I should really be doing next year, especially leading up to mid 2008. Since I wasn't able to meet as many goals as I would've liked this year, it may be difficult trying to fit everything in, with the limited time available and the current commitments that I have. I may have to cut back on my marathon aspirations for the time being, as training for a marathon takes a lot of time and commitment. At the moment, the tasks that I must do in the meantime are gaining my Sun Certified Java Developer certification (because I already purchased the assignment, I might as well do it!), and gaining more relevant experience at work, which will help me become an Implementation Consultant when I work abroad. Hopefully I can fit other stuff around these must-do tasks.
Well I'll leave it there for now. You'll definitely be hearing more from me again in future. I hope that you have gotten the most out of 2007. And I hope that in 2008 you will continue to grow and prosper, and even challenge yourself to do something you never thought of doing before. One toastmaster gave a persuasive speech a few months back, and the central message has stayed with me ever since. "If in doubt, participate". So just remember, if in doubt, participate. After all, what have you got to lose?
