The period from 25th December to 01 January is always important to me. I take detailed stock of the past year. I pick over the highlights, decide what's to be celebrated and what can be improved. I don't actually end it with resolutions, just little mental notes to myself.
2008 was a good one. I started it by serving notice of my exit at the end of this year to my previous employer. I know 12 month notices are unusual. However, I've had a good 10 years and my exit has necessitated some restructuring so the notice was good. I was not very sure of my next step but I felt if I did not serve notice, I'd procrastinate and never leave at all. Some great business opportunities came along that promise to yield something from 2009 onwards. So I'm broke but hopeful; a situation typical of either a fool rutted in optimism or the birth pangs of a shrewd entrepreneur. Time will tell. Indisputably, 2008 saved the best for last - the birth of my 3rd son, Adrian, on 13 December.
3 scholarship beneficiaries of Changing Lives Endowment Fund, a charity that I'm proud to be part of, graduated from high school. If they gain admission to any local public university, the scholarship continues. I may get them a "Thank You" card. More than anything else I do, the opportunity to help these kids makes me feel human.
The Irish say the 2 most useless things in life, a headache and an empty pocket. I must do a better job of monetising my opportunities in 2009. If the monetisation process gives me headaches, I'd have to squeeze a bigger premium out of the opportunity!
