2010 Year in Review
As we say good bye to 2010, I think it is a great idea to make your own personal list of your accomplishments, milestones and things you learned in the past year and write them down somewhere, preferably in a journal. It’s cool because I have done this for a while and I can think about a year, and quickly remember all the good things that happened in that particular year. It also encourages and reminds me that if you plan carefully and work at it consistently, you can do amazing things.
Ill be posting a an entry tomorrow on my own personal tips to ‘Resolutions and Goal Setting’. It may not work for everyone, but I am definitely getting results from this particular system. I think the biggest problem I have with goals and resolutions is ‘overkill’. Trying to do too much and not taking enough breaks, it wears me out sometimes to the point I have to sleep for a few days. Not kidding.
Michael Andrew’s Year in Review
Things I learned in 2010
– One person really can make a huge difference.
– Several individuals, when focused on a single common goal for the right reasons, can accomplish a tremendous amount of good.
– I need to do to a better job of telling those I care about that I love them, they (or myself) can be gone in an instant.
– I am constantly doubting myself and need to do a better job of identifying when I am being negative with myself.
– It REALLY pays to think big and be a little crazy. I need to find a way to think BIGGER than I have been.
– Big problems are solvable when you are able to break them down into smaller pieces.
– I need to learn ways to give better quality or service to my customers, there is much more I can improve on.
– I need to appreciate people for who they are, not what I expect them to be.
– Reinvention is constantly necessary, especially if you are successful.
Accomplished/ Good things that happened’
– Trip 1 to Help in Haiti (3 Weeks)
– Canon 7D Crash Course DVD
– Photographers Contract Maker App
– Canon T2i Crash Course DVD
– Contract Maker Pro App
– Advanced Photography Techniques DVD
– Michael The Maven App
– Relocated to Maui (long time goal)
– Trip 2 to Haiti (About a week)
– 2010 Photography Contest (we had 10x the number of people from the first year)
– Photography Business Crash Course DVD
– Set Up Michael The Maven Affiliate Program (Full Launch in Feb 2011)
– Canon 60D Crash Course DVD
– ‘Project X’ (You will be hearing about this very, VERY soon)
Did not Finish:
– ‘Project Y’ (It’s software based- will take a few more months, but wow…its awesome)
– Lighting Crash Course DVD
– Wedding Crash Course DVD
– 2 other Secret Projects, the scope of which are truly ginormous. One is halfway done and will be my main focus in Jan 2011.
2010 will also be pretty much ‘stained’ because it was the year we lost Mark. I still think about and miss him pretty much everyday.
On a more personal note, which I don’t really share too much of, is I thought I had found someone with huge potential to be ‘the one’, but things didn’t work out. In a way I kind of wished I shared more about her on here, but I don’t think any woman should know that details of her love life are being posted for the world to see. It’s frustrating to want to find that right person and not have it happen. I feel I am a better person for having known her. I am recommitted to just being the best I can be, focus on what I can actually control and let the consequences take their effect.
All in all, 2010 was a pretty good year for me and I am excited to press forward with many new exciting goals, DVDs, Apps, Videos and other cool stuff.
I also wanted to say thank you so much to everyone out there who reads this blog and supports me. Its because of you I am living my dream and I hope I can continue to be the best Maven I can be.
As we say good bye to 2010, I think it is a great idea to make your own personal list of your accomplishments, milestones and things you learned in the past year and write them down somewhere, preferably in a journal. It’s cool because I have done this for a while and I can think about a year, and quickly remember all the good things that happened in that particular year. It also encourages and reminds me that if you plan carefully and work at it consistently, you can do amazing things.
Ill be posting a an entry tomorrow on my own personal tips to ‘Resolutions and Goal Setting’. It may not work for everyone, but I am definitely getting results from this particular system. I think the biggest problem I have with goals and resolutions is ‘overkill’. Trying to do too much and not taking enough breaks, it wears me out sometimes to the point I have to sleep for a few days. Not kidding.
Michael Andrew’s Year in Review
Things I learned in 2010
– One person really can make a huge difference.
– Several individuals, when focused on a single common goal for the right reasons, can accomplish a tremendous amount of good.
– I need to do to a better job of telling those I care about that I love them, they (or myself) can be gone in an instant.
– I am constantly doubting myself and need to do a better job of identifying when I am being negative with myself.
– It REALLY pays to think big and be a little crazy. I need to find a way to think BIGGER than I have been.
– Big problems are solvable when you are able to break them down into smaller pieces.
– I need to learn ways to give better quality or service to my customers, there is much more I can improve on.
– I need to appreciate people for who they are, not what I expect them to be.
– Reinvention is constantly necessary, especially if you are successful.
Accomplished/ Good things that happened’
– Trip 1 to Help in Haiti (3 Weeks)
– Canon 7D Crash Course DVD
– Photographers Contract Maker App
– Canon T2i Crash Course DVD
– Contract Maker Pro App
– Advanced Photography Techniques DVD
– Michael The Maven App
– Relocated to Maui (long time goal)
– Trip 2 to Haiti (About a week)
– 2010 Photography Contest (we had 10x the number of people from the first year)
– Photography Business Crash Course DVD
– Set Up Michael The Maven Affiliate Program (Full Launch in Feb 2011)
– Canon 60D Crash Course DVD
– ‘Project X’ (You will be hearing about this very, VERY soon)
Did not Finish:
– ‘Project Y’ (It’s software based- will take a few more months, but wow…its awesome)
– Lighting Crash Course DVD
– Wedding Crash Course DVD
– 2 other Secret Projects, the scope of which are truly ginormous. One is halfway done and will be my main focus in Jan 2011.
2010 will also be pretty much ‘stained’ because it was the year we lost Mark. I still think about and miss him pretty much everyday.
On a more personal note, which I don’t really share too much of, is I thought I had found someone with huge potential to be ‘the one’, but things didn’t work out. In a way I kind of wished I shared more about her on here, but I don’t think any woman should know that details of her love life are being posted for the world to see. It’s frustrating to want to find that right person and not have it happen. I feel I am a better person for having known her. I am recommitted to just being the best I can be, focus on what I can actually control and let the consequences take their effect.
All in all, 2010 was a pretty good year for me and I am excited to press forward with many new exciting goals, DVDs, Apps, Videos and other cool stuff.
I also wanted to say thank you so much to everyone out there who reads this blog and supports me. Its because of you I am living my dream and I hope I can continue to be the best Maven I can be.
Just received word that the Canon 60D Crash Course DVD has been green lighted by our disk manufacturer and we should have it in stock to ship before Jan 20 2011. The last time they gave me a quote like this, it arrived 10 days early, and one of the benefits of doing the Pre-Order is that we ship your DVD out the same day we get them in, the benefit is you receive them several days before everyone else, because there is some stocking and inventory stuff we do which delays everyone else’s ship date.
Danielle came out the next day and we had a great shoot. She is featured in the “Canon 60D Crash Course DVD”. Keep in mind….the shoot took place after the contest deadline had closed.
It turns out, and I didnt find this out until all of the winners had been announced, that Danielle is also the photographer of the “Wet Cat with Blue Eyes”. She told me she didn’t want to mention to me that she had entered the contest when we did the Canon 60D shoot. 
Danielle and her husband live on Maui full time which makes it really great if I need her for another shoot. She was the one who introduced me to Maui’s Smug Mug group and has been extremely helpful with many little things. 
I am in the market to upgrade to a bigger zoom lens, the two I have narrowed it down to are:
If money, cost, size and weight are no matter, the answer is simple. You want the 
The 4 Lenses I decided to test were;
Michael’s Conclusions:
Best all round, those are my recommendations. 