"We go hard. I mean macro hard. Never microsoft." - Phonte, We Go Off
Refresh your memory with The 2011 Personal Operating Plan. Also, here's last year's performance report.
My Broad Strategic Goals
In everything I do this year, the goal is to Provide Value. In my personal life, I will be more deliberate with my Kindness and Compassion. I will also Love Harder. Health and Wellness will be a priority. Professionally and creatively, I will embrace Breaking Some Eggs, Breaking Some Rules, and Challenging the Status Quo.
Overwhelmingly, my goals this past year were focused on my job. 12 months ago, we were in the middle of enormous change, upheaval, and uncertainty at work. I was 3 months into my role as an executive and still trying to figure things out. And I had this sense that it was a watershed moment. I could play it safe—JT Plays It Cool—or I could push.
I put two hands out in front of me and shoved hard. But, y'know, always with my signature smile on my face.
Career
In the past year, I got a new boss. He also got a new boss. I lost colleagues. I gained team members. My team's responsibilities broadened. Meanwhile, our technical and creative resources shrank. Our ability to hire supplemental resources to meet demand was limited.
And still, we shipped. We moved to a daily content update schedule in most areas that we manage. We launched several major stunts (including one of the biggest of the Summer). We pushed our organization and focus from site production to content creation and editorial planning.
We maintained a whole lot of stability and certainty in the midst of constant flux. And, we provided value.
And, true to our goals, to my goals, we celebrated and showcased that value to the highest levels by the end of the year.
Boom.
Love
Tiffany B. Brown didn't run screaming after 5 months of living together and we married each other on May 14th. We also moved into a house that we can both call our own and had an amazing honeymoon in Indonesia in November. The goal, however, was to Love Harder.
Did I do that?
I'm not the best judge of this as in matters of the heart, I'm most likely to think about the most recent success or failure and I've felt like I haven't quite been hitting it out of the park over the last month so...I don't know.
What I do know, I was the most open, honest, and vulnerable with a person this year than I've ever been with anyone. Tiffany gets to/has to see me at my weakest, lowest, least attractive...and she still hasn't run away screaming.
Maybe I'm doing something right.
Travel
The main goal was to travel internationally in 2011. 2 weeks in Indonesia with hours in the airports in Hong Kong and Seoul.
Boom.
I also made it to Austin, New Orleans, San Francisco, and Greensboro. Not nearly enough travel overall, though.
Friends and Family
I feel like I failed miserably at this this year. Sure, we had that one incredible week in NOLA but did I see my favorite people on a committed, regular basis? I don't feel like I did. More and differently, perhaps. There were Summer parties at the house. We did have a stream of house guests once we got into the house but weeks go by when I don't see folks.
I never made it to New York to see my sister in her element. Lucky for me, she came back to California. So did my grandmother.
And this past weekend in San Francisco was a huge exclamation point on friendship, spending quality time with my longest standing friend...but we'll save that for another post, I think.
Hmmm, maybe I'm being too hard on myself. In Mouse House language, I'll say Im right on track here but with definite opportunities for growth in 2012.
Creativity and Learning
Okay, I was a total fool with my goal last year and made it far too large and daunting. With so much going on, where was there going to be time to do something I hadn't done consistently since college?
Spectacular failure here.
Financial
Life is good. We're not debt free yet (surprise, a wedding, even one smartly underplanned, crowd-sourced, and frugal like ours, still comes with a gigantor bill) but we are well on our way. It's nice to be in position to think about financial growth rather than survival every week.
Health and Wellness
Wow, I actually did pretty well here. I saw all my health care providers. I joined a gym. I go to personal training twice a week.
I still struggle with food choices. I still have high blood pressure. My weight is still not where I want it. All that's true but what is also true is I feel really good right now. I feel strong. I feel like I'm on the right track. I feel like I'm positioned really well to finally win over some of these demons in 2012. Oh, and while I still hang with Daily Mile, health month is no longer in my tackle box.
I did some significant leveling up this year. I'd say I'm Moving Ahead.