2009 Was an awesome year for me, I feel like Ive accomplished many (not all of the goals I set out to do), but I wanted to make a list of the lessons I learned, and how I can improve.

In 2009, I learned:

– If you plan it carefully, surround yourself with good people, you can do amazing things.
– There are many, many good strangers out there happy to be your friend, as long as you are ready to be theirs first.
– We have to be ready to reject opportunity, even good opportunities, if we want to be great.
– Each of us has something that is most important to be working on…everything else, even though necessary, can be a distraction.
– I think sincerity is probably one of the things I look for most in relationships now…if its not there…its hard to have anything else, trust, respect, admiration etc.
– I learned that I probably do my very best work with a pencil and piece of paper in a quiet place where I am not distracted.
– I learned that, even though I work well with others, I am extremely introverted and am completely happy working alone for weeks at a time. Im a little more freaked about the fact that it doesn’t freak me out more.
– I learned that I need to do a better job of relaxing and taking time off.
– I learned that I absolutely must understand how much my time is worth…in actual dollars per hour. This must be constantly taken into consideration.
– I learned that as tempting it is to try to learn something and do it yourself, sometimes its better to hire someone who is an expert at it, even if they are expensive. This is more true the more complex the subject matter is.

(I am guilty of some of these myself- just being brutally honest here)
– I learned that “busy” really means “Not interested in whatever it is you are asking me to do”
– I learned that “let’s be friends” means, “Lets not be friends, but I don’t want to feel bad about it”