Friday, December 30, 2011

Reflecting Back…

As 2011 winds its way down to the last few hours, I take this time to reflect back on what, for me, was a very fulfilling year in many ways.  A perfect year?  Not by a long shot, but one loaded with enough action and accomplishments to fill a…well, a blog post.

This is a necessary, and important, exercise to do, by the way.  Most of us, if you are like me, don’t take the time to look back and bask in our accomplishments.  As a constantly driven person, someone who is always looking for the next big opportunity (I get bored easily) and challenge, I tend to push myself to the point, at times, of exhaustion.  Taking a few moments (hopefully a few days) to go back and put a few asterisks next to your completed “to-do” list is an excellent way to end the year.

Before I twist my arm out of socket from so much back-patting, I must add that this post on reflection will be followed by a post on looking ahead: embracing another arduous list of things I’d like to accomplish in 2012.

2011 was a year of travel—personal and business. I was fortunate enough to have visited several new cities this year (Dublin), as well as returning to some of my favorites (Maui).  All in all, I logged over 30,000 air miles—wow, that’s a lot of recycled air, stale pretzels, and cramped leg space!

I traversed across this great country six times!  Over two Oceans!  With stops along the way at:

·         Las Vegas
·         Tampa
·         Phoenix
·         Boston
·         Newport, Rhode Island
·         Narragansett, Rhode Island
·         NYC!
·         Maui
·         Dublin
·         Letterkenny
·         Atlanta
·         Sacramento
·         Reno

I began the year not knowing my future with my current “day job,” and am ending this year with the hope of soon getting my second promotion.  It has been a very rewarding year career-wise—a good thing!
I am blessed to work at a job where I get to interact with and lead and mentor dozens of people each day.  I have creative freedom to use my triad of balance-mind, body, and spirit.

I was able to get my website back up and running (and looking better than ever) after over a year of idleness!  Besides this blog, I also started another called “Mike’sDaily…”

The hits from my YouTube Page, Facebook, Twitter, my blogs and website have resulted in millions of visitors this year.  Thanks to all for the continued and tremendous support!

I published my second book (my first is a young adult novel) this year and while the sales have not gone through the roof, they have been steady.



I produced another round of interesting and entertaining videos, along with another music video:



Along the way I’ve continued to cultivate a wonderful and solid relationship with my wife of almost twenty years, a son that just turned thirty (man, I’m/he’s OLD!), and my family and friends near by and Back East.

But mostly, I was able to help countless people change their lives for the better, lose weight and eat healthier, become motivated and inspired, and, hopefully, gave a few a good laughs along the way.

Reflecting back on 2011, it has been a pretty good year.  And while it has not all been roses and sunshine, it has been worth looking back on and taking a few moments to enjoy…and give myself a few pats on the back.

You should do the same.

Until next time…

peace,

Mike
 

1 comment:

Susan Blake said...

Happy New Year to the most favorite dude I know in the entire blogosphere! :) Hey, my son turns 30 this year too - gulp! And I didn't see Chicago on your list of cities - if you are ever in my town I sure hope we can get together!
Hugs
suZen