My 2011 Manfiesto

Now that 2010 is out of the way, we can talk about the 365 days that comprise the year 2011.

I wrote last week that 2010 was a good year. I felt that I accomplished everything I wanted to and more, and I found that I can make improvements for 2011. In this blog entry I’ll set the agenda for what I want to accomplish for the year.

Over the week I read from Chris Guillebeau that he has themes for the year. I reviewed the last three years of notes and annual reviews and determined these would be the themes:

2008: Year of the Subtle Body (adventures in spirituality and personal growth)
2009: Year of the Yogi (introduction to yoga and vegetarianism)
2010: Year of the Retrofit (new friends, adoption of minimalism, meditation, writing, habit changes)

I don’t know exactly what 2011 will hold, yet I feel it’s going to be a big year in terms of change and opportunity. This is the first year in a while where my personal growth isn’t based on fixing a deficiency of fulfilling a need. Instead, this year’s personal development will be sourced from a sufficiency-based plan. I certainly have to make some remedial adjustments, but those alone will not take up the majority of my efforts. This year I am shifting from the focus of personal development and self-employment to interpersonal skills and helping others out. I’ll tentatively call this the “Year of Others”, but I’m sure that I’ll come up with a better name than that.

After six years of studying personal development and businesses, I need to make a change. I’ve read over fifty business books and dozens of personal development books. I’ve come a long way from 2004, when I needed to pull myself out of a funk after losing my job and starting over in a new field (and city). I still am focused on liberation, but I found that I cannot focus on it directly from a self-directed standpoint.

Late last year it became apparent that the path I was on was not working for me. I was trying to form a business for the past six years. Unfortunately, I never arrived at an idea that I felt I could follow. I think staying stuck on finding a business idea for six years implies that I need to let it go and not force it.

Similarly, after six years of personal development I find that most of the material I read is intuitively obvious, irrelevant or fully integrated in my life. The signs of familiarity and repetition indicate a need to change, so strict personal development will not be a focus for me going forward. This doesn’t mean I’m giving up personal development entirely. It means that I won’t be putting directed energy towards it unless there is something that requires it.

2011 Focus

When I read through my digitized notes from last month I found a few important reasons for my success:

• Development of leadership skill and ability
• The ability to negotiate and communicate well, especially from one person to another
• The ability to understand systems and situations rapidly
• A partially photographic/eidetic/”muscle” memory (not something that is easily built, but it doesn’t hurt).

Most people think I have great technical capabilities at work, but that’s not why I’m successful. I have good technical capabilities and I grasp systems and information very well. But where I really shine is in conversations and leadership. I’m not the best software developer in my company, or even in the department I work in. Those who have reviewed my code at work know exactly what I’m talking about! But I work great with others, can explain what is going on and what to do, and take the initiative from a business and technical standpoint. That’s how I was able to be promoted three times in seven years.

I have a sense that this is not a do-it-yourself lifetime for me. I note that I have more success when I involve others instead of going out on my own. Last year I formed a club and lead over 25 people in Toastmasters; I felt better accomplishing that than any other project at work this year. I feel good by helping others out and creating win/win situations. Based on this, I’m willing to spend a year to approach things differently. I am fortunate enough to be in a position where I don’t have much to lose, and I feel that I can gain a lot from experimenting with this focus.

In terms of skill building and focus, I look to build my expertise in the following areas:

• Negotiation and diplomacy
• Team-building
• Coaching – maybe train to become an Integral Life Coach, but I have to see what it requires. Currently this may only be an option if I take it in Canada, but I need to look into it further.
• Counseling – but not from a therapeutic modality.
• Developing leadership skills in others
• Promotion and promoting others’ work. I don’t know what this looks like, but I had someone in the marketing department at work tell me that my “sales letter” for forming the Toastmasters group was an example of very good PR and promotion.

These are ideas that others or a review of materials have suggested I can become really good at. As I said earlier, I feel comfortable enough that my current needs are being met and that I can take this year to do a little experimentation.

2011 Commitments

Based on my review and where I would like to head in the future, I need to make changes in my life to see if the direction of focus is where I want to be. With that said, here are the commitments I am making this year.

1. Set aside the idea of starting my own business, at least for this year. It makes no sense to put more energy into something that isn’t working for me now. I reserve the right to change my mind if I find something I truly want to do or I find people are throwing money at me because I can do something really well.
2. Only read business or personal development materials when I need them. Instead I will read books in the focus areas for skill development.
3. Continue with writing and creation (the goals from last year).
4. Continue down the path of minimalism. I won’t pare down to 100 things, but I aim to get to a level where I don’t have much more than I really need.
5. Make adjustments to improve my health. This will probably involve sleeping a little more, less caffeine, more meditation, eating healthier foods, and cultivating a deeper understanding of my physical set points.

Note that I don’t have any significant projects outlined for my 2011 commitments. For me this is like the opening strategy in chess. I know what I want to accomplish this year, but the exact details haven’t been fleshed out because I’m going to be doing some experimentation.

This also means that the focus of the blog might change, but I have not looked into anything at this point. The first couple of months may be just research and reading, but I intend to write more about the topics I have outlined later on in the year. It may also mean that I start another blog and post less here. In either case, I’ll give plenty of notice to what my intentions are for my writing and blog presence.

Projects For 2011

Changing my focus does not mean that I get to bury myself in books and seminars this year. Far from it, in fact. I do have some projects I will be tackling this year.

1. Learn bike repair to a beginner/intermediate competency. I feel I will be on a bike more this year than in the past, so I want to know how to do basic repairs and regular maintenance. I can help others by supporting a good bike mechanic, but that won’t help me immediately when I have a flat tire on the street.
2. Commit to funding portions of 50 Kiva loans. Note that this doesn’t mean I’m funding 50 loans at once, although I will likely get close to that. I started on 12/31/2010 with one loan funded.
3. Start a mentor program for the Toastmasters club at work.
4. Commit to receiving the Toastmasters Advanced Communicator Bronze award by June 30th. I have four speeches left. I would love to get this done for the club I am involved with.

There will most likely be other projects that I partake, but I intend to only select those that further the goals and interests of my focus for this year.

The Two Words: Minimalism and Travel

As I said previously, sometimes words come up to me that describe what to focus on in a given year. Last year it was “write” and “create”. This year I had three words, but the two that seem to pull me the most are “minimalism” and “travel”.

The minimalism part will be simple: I aim to get to a point where I don’t own more than I really need. For me this looks like I need to liberate the amount of stuff equivalent to a walk-in bedroom closet. Most of it is going to be donated, but I have some stuff to sell off. I hope to get that accomplished by Memorial Day this year, though I am not in any significant rush to complete this. (Anyone interested in men’s watches, board games or a pool cue can contact me.)

I intend to do a little more travel this year, even if it’s getting away for the weekend. My big trip this year will be on the rails for three weeks to visit the Pacific Northwest. I’ll be visiting San Francisco, Portland, Seattle and Vancouver BC. (SF is not the Pacific NW, but it’s on the way.) One thing I am looking at doing is bike touring, doing short trips called S24Os (sub-24 hour overnights). Basically, get on a bike and spend a night somewhere other than home. It may not even be by bike to start out with, but I like the idea of getting out on the road and going somewhere else.

The third word this year was “business”, but as I wrote before I will not be focusing on it. It’s entirely possible that I can form a business by letting the idea come to me intuitively or naturally instead of trying to force one into the world.

Admittedly, this year feels more full than most other years in the past. In fact, I can say that this is the most planned year I’ve had in a long time. I may not get to everything, and I may not make all of my commitments. I actually have to fit work, sleep, yoga, eating, and maybe a date or three in there. But I have a sense that it will be a great, action-packed year.