Plans,-Kpis-&-Reviews

My quick wander around Union Square leads me to WHSmith where I trawl the shelves, ultimately failing to find a notebook that calls to me. I do find this A5 sized one with gridded out sheets at Paperchase, one that reminds me of studying Maths in my (Nigerian) primary school days. Truth is my current task management set up (Wunderlist on my phone and Mac) leaves a little niggle - an inability to order tasks n running order. As a work around, I have pulling through the day’s tasks into Notes on my phone, a sort of live action tracker, which is where this new setup shines, replacing the notes app on my phone with a proper notebook. I hope, once the shine of a new notebook and erasable pen wears off that I can continue to do this… Fingers crossed. ...

Yet another day spent in a workshop, hammering out the finer details of the support we’ll need to provide for an upcoming project. This time away from the office; sequestered in a building on the corner of Market Street and North Esplanade West. I could get used to this; talking about work as opposed to doing work…

At the coffee machine, catching up with the new, younger engineer who shares my first name, he asks me what my surname is. I give him the anglicized, easy to pronounce version which doesn’t satisfy him. He asks me how I would pronounce it - cue five attempts, after each of which he fails colossally to reproduce the sounds I make somehow ending up adding, subtracting and transposing syllables through his various attempts. ...

My first run since I cracked a couple of bones in my foot last October went without incident, all fifteen minutes of it. I took my usual route, up the Beach Boulevard and then towards the Beach Esplanade; the long, straight stretch of which I have come to love for the sense of exhilaration I get as my feet pound the ground in time with whatever song I am listening to. ...

This year, instead of a bucket list of things I am hoping to achieve, I chose to identify 12 things, key changes which in my opinion if implemented in my life would deliver the biggest value. The intent is to focus on one for each month, the idea (referenced in this Matt Cutts TEDx talk) being that focusing on one change for a thirty day period gives one a fighting chance of making lasting change. ...

A Year of Lessons Learned - some at great cost - in no particular order: Doubts not dealt with at inception are unlikely to go away of their own accord, they are more likely to fester and then lead to a cataclysmic event; It is almost never ever about you alone, people can (and probably will) get hurt by the fallout of your (in)decisions; The health, quality and colour of the grass across the fence are notoriously difficult to predict, one is perhaps best minded to live by the dictum ’ a bird in hand is worth two in the bush’ ; Mutuality - another notoriously difficult thing to predict - is everything; There is nothing to be gained from overthinking things; Time is perhaps the greatest contributor to clarity and healing; God does still come through, only He does have a peculiar sense of timing. For 2016? ...

Three main achievements will make 2015 a ‘perfect’ year, to all intents and purposes, viz: Spiritual growth as evidenced by a regular routine of bible study and prayer A new Technical M&C role at an oil and gas operator Getting married The wider goals and targets I’m looking to achieve for the year though, aligned with my personal SWOT analysis and the refocused Life Plan are: Spiritual Achieve 80% Daily Bible Reading and Prayer - explore the Lectio Divina process Average 6 (of 8) church days per month Attend FOL Morning Prayers twice a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays) – 80% target Physical and Health Get fitter – YE target is 15% body fat, weight under 80kg Get blood pressure below 140/90 consistently (explore potassium replacement/ supplements as a quantified self project) Average 6 hours of sleep/day >80% of the time Use the gym 3 times a week (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday) – target 80% Track sodium and attempt to bring within recommended limits Social and People: Track B contact time (Target > 1 hour per day); track completions in Habit List Host a hangout for my 2015 birthday (Aberdeen) Drag my London Blogger peeps today for a meal over summer 2015 (CaramelD, Simeon, NoLimit, ToniAnni, Aloted, MizKeji) Maintain weekly phone calls home to Dad Career & Work Become staff M&C Engineer at an O&G Operator; Attend monthly industry working group meetings – target 80% of months with a meeting (one of ICorr, IMarEST or AFBE) – track in Habit List Deliver Work Projects TI Anomaly Risk Review TI Vibration Fatigue Strategy and Implementation ECE Project Procedure Updates - Integrity Risk Screening (PoF Guidance, DAF Risk Assessment) MU Integrity Management - Inspections and Topside Pressure System Integrity Financial: Save 30% of net earnings, Reduce total spend; 2015 YE target of £35k Grow net worth by 50% (total - investments + savings + pension growth,+ assets, etc) Rebalance net worth and elements; buy a house, build ISA back up to 10k, invest excess in index funds Mental and Personal Development: Deliver on a 25 book reading plan (Aim to cover Christian Classics, Literary Classics, Popular Fiction, Current Christian & Non-fiction with 5 each per category) Blog here at archive.rustgeek.me at least once a week (Plan is to post something >500 words every Tuesday) Learn to write VBA for Excel and Macros Learn to play a musical instrument - need to decide between the acoustic guitar and the saxophone, target is to present something at eXpressions 2015) Attend Structural Integrity course at Imperial College Causes & Charity: Catch up on my first fruit offering from pay rise in Q1 2013 (as a one time gift if possible at the end of February) Write to Moises and RosieMarie twice each during the year General, Projects and Bucket List Items Complete a modified Whole30 or Ketogenic Diet for an entire month Walk or run 5 miles daily for a month Read 5 Booker Prize Winners (Bucket List) Attend the Edinburgh Fringe Festival Watch the Ball drop in New York’s Time Square

General 2014 was an emotional wringer of a year, perhaps the most difficult one I’ve ever had, thanks in part to losing H, and O, but also because of difficult transitions at work. All in all, it’s been a largely forgettable year, with spots of delirious joy in between. Here, in each of the seven focus areas undergirding the life plan are a little bit more detailed thoughts on how my 2014 went with a (R)ed, (A)mber or (G)reen indicator. ...

A review of the goals I set out to achieve in 2014. Learn to drive, buy a car: Completed (Passed driving test in April, bought a car in October- completed) Buy a house: Progressed (Made an unsuccessful offer for a city centre apartment. Waiting on feedback on further developments as winning bid seemed to have fallen through, definitely one to focus on in 2015) Improve professionally: Completed (Certified to API 571 - Advanced Corrosion and Materials in April and NACE Senior Corrosion Technologist in December, wrote API 580 exam, waiting on results in Q1 2015) Find two mentors, meet once a month to catch up and review where I am: Progressed (Held regular meetings with O through the year, met G twice and K once, another action to follow up and KPI through 2015) Travel: Completed (8 London Trips, 2 Manchester ones and an enforced Nigeria trip; failed to complete my Great North American Road Trip for the 35th, one to chase up next year also) Develop a daily practice of prayer, bible study and meditation: Progressed (Bought NIV Devotional Bible and tracked completions in Habit List) Blog for 30 days straight: Completed (Used the Art of Manliness 30 Days to a Better Man challenge as a template) Save minimum of 30% of net earnings, reduce annual spend to pre-2013 levels (£30k): Failed (Car purchase, helps for family and travel to Nigeria made saving especially difficult) Communicate and Engage the people in my life better: Progressed (Call Dad once a week now, need to give B the focus she also needs as we progress,wrote to sponsored children once each and sent a Christmas gift to RosieMarie) Deliver on the 30 book reading plan: Failed (Managed 16 of the 30, should do better) Community Engagement - Church Publications, Tech and Young Adults Group: Completed (Delivered four articles for the publications team and helped with video edits and script delivery for the Broadcasting/ Tech team, c0-sponsored the Young Adults Christmas party) Get fit and lean: Failed (Up to 90kg in weight and measured body fat at 23%; epic fail) All in, there or thereabouts with three clear failures (savings and the reading plan). Clear focus areas for 2015 already standing out then I guess.