2014 on A Geek's Life

Year End Review - 2014

Wed, 31 Dec 2014 22:03:03 +0000

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.

2014 Actions...

Tue, 30 Dec 2014 19:44:45 +0000

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.

Light of Christmas - Owl City (feat TobyMac)

Thu, 25 Dec 2014 09:24:23 +0000

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Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Building the Life Plan - My SWOT Analysis

Tue, 23 Dec 2014 15:31:30 +0000

Key 2015 Actions

Attend one professional meeting per month - ICorr, IMarEST or NACE Aberdeen - to build professional network and create opportunities to volunteer (AFBE)
Learn VBA programming for Excel
Speak up more/ contribute more vocally at meetings - aim to contribute at least once per work/team meeting
Explore options to close pipelines/subsea/design skills gaps

On Repeat #21 - All Things New - Hillsong Worship

Sun, 06 Jul 2014 13:39:00 +0000

All Things New has quickly become my favourite song from the 2014 Hillsong Worship Album - No Other Name

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My faith is in things unseen Bringing life where it has not been Speaking things that are not As if they were I am alive in You

2014 - The Plan

Fri, 03 Jan 2014 00:33:52 +0000

The prospect of poor health, a milestone birthday of sorts and all round malaise kicked off what was a great plan (in my opinion at least) to deliver change over the course of a year, which as I am wont to do, I tagged with the lofty title ‘ The Year of Living Dangerously’. It started off well – at least with regards to chasing up 52 small changes but the initial enthusiasm seeped out, prompting an attempt to gee myself up for a restart.