2016 End Year Review

As 31st approaches, how has the year gone and what should I look forward to in 2017?

Reading the 1/2 year post and the "growth" theme for 2016, I find it surprising that my body / mind seems to be adapting to the challenges of 4 jobs quite well.  People say I look relaxed and personally I feel quite relaxed.  But if I look deeper into each of the tasks, I can see that there are still many areas that need to be improved on.

1. Corporate job - Unfortunately I have not been able to secure more work internally, as projects have struggled with their own timelines.  So (much like how I envisaged a consultant's role would be) there is a lot of pitching and not much success.  This spinning of wheels does make me feel less energy going into work.  In order to be effective in this role, I need to become more of a "thought leader" in technology, with stronger opinions on how I should shape the future.  I struggle with that and honestly do not know if that is a role that I can play well.  I think for the next 6 months, do more research, think more and see if that gets me somewhere.
    
2. Ownership job - The achievement is that number 3 outlet is up and operating smoothly, but the issue is that performance is/was a bit lacking in Q4 this year.  Culturally at that outlet there is a feeling of "cannot" instead of "can", which needs to be slowly chipped away at and fixed.  Overall business I made a promise to be more focussed on operational efficiency and we have made some gains, but I need to tighten up more and have a better cost view of the business and enforce this view to Jo and Pat.  Number 4 will come in July 2017, just need to find the place (should be not too hard) and money (maybe slightly harder!).
    
3. Tech start-up job - Bringing on Shuai and Dexter have made the system come across as a professional piece of software, which is great.  Functionality continues to improve, and it is helping reduce costs across the Morgans operations.  I just cannot seem to get anyone else to buy it!  So I think something in my pitch is not hitting the right notes for that audience.  Reading the book "Pre-Suasion" recently has helped me see how to influence the message better and will adopt this into the pitch deck.  "Coffee is for closers", as Dex said to me, and I definitely do not deserve coffee at the moment.  Let us hope 2017 will provide better fruits for my labours.  On a separate personal note, I am so glad I wrote this software.  I used to think my creativity was not there, but I realise I just need a specific problem set to be creative.  If software could be art, this is my creation. 
    
4. Party job - Whilst weekly parties did not work, we end the year with twice-a-month parties (at the same location instead of a new location) and the chance to finish with a bang with a New Years Eve Street Party (also in collaboration with the same bar owners).  I realise the "adjacent possible" is a powerful opportunity, and we should take more advantage of that.  People like familiar but with a slight edge, as opposed to a new concept in a new location, which requires marketing education at the very least.  Still no pool party? :(

I started Crossfit in Aug and it has made a difference to my body shape.  Those guys are hardcore!  I am aware of not trying to go too crazy but it helps to have people around me push.  Nutrition is ok, more protein required.  Someone told me not to go too hard on the supplements and keep the eating natural because the supplements become addictive (and in SG, quite costly!).  The funny thing about Crossfit is that they do so many squats, the biggest change to my clothing is that my pants are now tighter, which may not be a bad thing.  I think I will stick to Crossfit for another year.    Still might consider white collar boxing, to bring back the skills I learnt in Seoul!

Idea generation is still poor.  Have not done any exercises in that area.  How can I make it more engaging?  Let's apply idea generation across each of my jobs, one a day, which means 4 things per week.  See if that makes it easier to do.

Last post I redefined my "cute alpha girl" to "cute self-assured girl".  Happy to say that I have found someone that fits the bill!  I think due to some of her personal circumstances she has lost a bit of self-assurance, but I see the potential. She also has a daughter whom I have not met yet, but I think we are both focused on making our relationship strong first.  I recall telling friends of mine that I have always wanted to adopt a kid, so perhaps that is why this situation does not give me too many alarm bells.  Either that or I am still in the "honeymoon" phase of the relationship :)   Since she is Chinese, I have decided to ditch the Korean learning and attempt to rekindle my Mandarin (for the 7th time!).  This is a perfect opportunity to try!

I read that Warren Buffet has a 5/25 rule, which is write the 25 things you want to do, find the top 5 and forget about ever doing the next 20.  From this review, it seems that I am trying too many things.  I think I need to focus.  Maybe the next 6 months should be about determining what really does work for me.

Looking forward to 2017!  I think the word for 2017 is "consolidate".  Bring together the learning and experience from these different facets of my life to define new possibilities.  Set targets and deliver on those targets.  Work out what needs to be given up in order to focus on the better things.

P.S.  Shout out to Justin, Bec, Reenie and Boges who still read this thing!