2012 has many milestones looming up for me and my family; our son will graduate from University. Yeah no more college fees. I can’t remember what that felt like and I’m looking forward to finding out. Our daughter is getting married this year too, wow how time flies. Mark’s parents will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary and I will become President for Danville/Sycamore Rotary Club.
I know there are many other exciting things to come, these are just some of the big ones, and I’ll share with you about the others during the course of the year.
Reflecting over 2011, I can honestly say it was a very good year for me; I achieved most things that I set out to do. One of my favourite goals this year that was accomplished was going to the Bahamas; it has been on my radar for several years and yet had always eluded me.
It wasn’t really a high priority more of a wish, until something just brought it to the top. I realized I had been saying for many years that I wanted to go and yet, always chose to go somewhere else instead. How often does this occur where we say one thing and find ourselves distracted into doing something else?
Not wanting to sound like a stuck record, repeating myself over and over again, I figured out when was going to be the best time and where we wanted to go, the rest of the how took care of itself so to speak, and it frequently does when we make a definite decision and put our minds to something.
We did get to swim with dolphins and that was a real treat and very special, they are truly amazing animals. For those of you who remember Flipper, we visited the island where Flipper was filmed and learned about the dolphin center. The Bahamas was such a lovely change to just sit back, relax and sunbath.
Business goals, I intended to launch 2 new workshops and 2011 did see the Build Your Business Plan and How To Get Things Done workshops come alive, both had significant positive effects on the participants and are scheduled on the calendar again for 2012 along the long lasting favourite Plan It, Do It, Finish It.
Make sure to take a peek on my website or call me if you, or someone you know is interested in finding out more. 2012 will also see some new programs come into effect which I am very excited about, watch out for these around the corner.
As Poet Laureate I felt my biggest challenge (other than getting my video camera to record properly) was writing new poems for events which I had done previously, how could I get a similar message across in a different format with new meaning and emotion. I was pleased with the outcome and also had several new poetic experiences including meeting up with many other fellow Poet Laureates from around California. I can’t say I have a favourite event or poem, each one has a special meaning as I create them. If you know of a special event that would enjoy a special poem email or call me.
My BIG project for this year is Senior Moments poetry book, I’ll keep you up to date with this over the next few months, there will be plenty of opportunity for you to help me.
I have continued to write on a regular basis and in 2011, I was a contributing author to Amazon Best Seller The World’s Worst Networker. I have more writing on the agenda for this year too. My favourite book read was Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill, we are currently still reading this in the Business Action Group, there is so much to pull from this book and definitely a book you can read over and over again.
I can’t say how many times I have read it, and each time I learn something new or find a nugget that I had forgotten about. The most surprising book I read was Switch by Dan Heath. I learned some ideas around looking for the simple things that make a significant difference, thank you to Jim Ott for bringing this book to my attention.
Again, 2012 will see me as a continual learner as always taking classes, reading books and most importantly, applying what I learn and sharing with others. I love sharing through speaking engagements and for 2012 I would love to do more, so if you know an organisation looking for an energetic speaker, let me know.
As my business grows, I am enjoying delegating many tasks to other people so that I can do what I do best. I look forward to sharing 2012 experiences with you all and wish you a very prosperous 2012, may you accomplish all you set out to do.