Happy New Year! 2011 is over and I hope it was good to you. Let’s aim to make 2012 even better.

2011 was a good year. It was probably my best year in terms of learning. School gave me the opportunity to touch on subjects I wouldn’t have found on my own, as well as come across people whom I may not have been exposed to otherwise. These people were not only intelligent but helped bring new perspectives that I wouldn’t have thought of on my own. School also allowed me the time to do my own reading. And I did a lot of it. I read over 50 books the past year. Although many people say that a rigorous MBA program doesn’t allow you to have a life outside of it, my experience has been the opposite. I found myself having adequate time to do the things I enjoy doing such as reading, working out, rock climbing, and jiu jitsu. These activities all contributed to my learning, balance, and well-being and were vital to my overall happiness.

There were a few disappointments in 2011, which included a large number of injuries. I threw out my back, tore cartilage in my ribs, messed up my right foot, aggravated my neck, etc. etc. in what seemed like a never-ending ocean of injury after injury. This made me very, very frustrated. I am hoping the lessons I have learned in 2011 will allow me to take the necessary precautions this year to avoid injuries while still doing the activities I love. I was also annoyed with my lack of output, which has always been my Achilles heel. I tend to consume a lot of input, hence the amount of books I read, but lacked creating any output of my own. This blog being an obvious example of that. I don’t have any excuses for this. I managed to do most of the things I wanted to do, and yet if I’m honest with myself I know I did those things so I could avoid doing what matters, such as figuring out how I will feed myself in the coming years. This annoys me to no end. There are certain activities I know I should do, but just conveniently never get around to doing them. My guess is probably because I find most of them uncomfortable. This is something I will address in 2012.

It will be a big year, with big changes coming up. I’ll graduate, turn 30, and leave Toronto, to name a few things. I’ll continue doing the activities I love, but will definitely have an emphasis on output. Have a great 2012!