To Do Something Interesting: Inspired by a Zen Habits post called Do Interesting Things I want to do at least one thing that is noteworthy or interesting this year. Something where I can say “Yes I did that! “. I find I’m in constant contact with so many interesting people but when it comes to sharing my story I feel boring and ordinary. I want to find a hobby or even just a one time activity that can have a story about it.  ( If you have any ideas what this could be feel free to post in the comments or let me know!)

Live More the The Moment: Looking back on the past decade I unfortunately saw  a pattern that needs to stop. I found that instead of pursuing things that I wanted to do, I let barriers or challenges  get in the way and told myself as soon as these are out of the way I can do it. Problem with this frame of thought is that it then never happens because there is always something that will get in the way.

@mynameisguygal told me something recently that stuck with me  “You can never find time, you can only make it.” and its very true. There will always be a barrier or situation in life that will prevent you from doing something. Instead you have to make the situation yourself that will make your plans work! The goal will be to create a habit out of this. Instead of postponing  and saying it has to happen later I need to just go ahead and do it!

Define the “kevrichard” brand: Not in a business or selling sense but in a life sense. Being in school and being part of a military family made things very structured and planned. This goal fits with my goal of  living more in the moment as with focusing on school and being prepared for the next move I put a lot of things off and didn’t take much time in developing myself as a person.

Being free of all of that,  its now  time to determine what makes me tick! Am I a foodie? Am I into extreme sports?  Or am I a culture explorer? Unlike the rest of my goals for this year this will be a longer term process. ‘Discovering yourself’ isn’t an overnight process  its going to be a  lot of trial and error but it will  also be  an exciting process!

AND the returning resolution…. Become more healthy!  : This didn’t happen as well as I would have liked last year. For the first half it just didn’t happen with early mornings and late nights of working hard  in school while also pursuing events that made this learning even more concrete. And then the second half  it just fell to the side in my attempts in settling my life post graduation.

So the goal this year is to get it done. Luckily (or unluckily) I’m being pushed on a diet for the time being and I’m going to try a more communal approach in being an active participant of the Reddit Health Project and Reddit Fitness (yes I’m a huge fanboy) . I’m hoping by doing this along with other that my motivation will keep up and I’ll feel guilty if I begin to fall behind.

As I stated in my last post my big goal is to get to get myself to 160 pounds of lean mass ( Update on this to come in the summer!)

Well there is my strategy for 2010! This year is going to be pretty big, especially as its a start to a new decade. I hope to you and your family ( and really everyone else!) this year is a great one!

Got to put in a LOL Cat for good measure!

Have any questions/comments ? Contact me at kevin@kevrichard.com or send me a twitter message .

So  here we go…..

1. Becoming More Passionate: So I think I wrote this with a bit of an expectation that I would suddenly be hit on the head and determine that I would be completely passionate and happy go lucky about a certain job or aspect of my life. Well, it didn’t happen.If you do a quick search on the net you can find a lot of articles and postings on “Finding your Passion” but from what I’m realizing is that it isn’t a fast and immediate process. I made some progress but I would say that I’m still not close enough to choosing a passion and committing myself 100% to it.

Developing passion takes a bit of work- At Social Media Mastermind

That isn’t to say that I failed at my goal, I think as time went by I re purposed it and made it more realistic. Over the year I feel I discovered I really enjoy learning and exploring topics and that I couldn’t be passionate about something that stayed constantly the same.  I also think that as a whole it has to be people related but in a more analytical sense. Reflecting back on school my favorite topics often related to how people interacted (be it Consumer Behavior, Psychology, Communications or Market Research ). Right now in my current work I’m exploring net communications and social media which may or may not be the same in the next few years. Overall I think I’ve laid out a bit more of a path for myself but there is still more work to do going forward.

2. Spending time on the right people: I think this has been the area of biggest improvement for myself , but an area that I still need to consistently work on. I made in my opinion 2 huge achievements: Setting my own boundaries and Getting out and meeting with/interacting with new people.

On Setting Boundaries: Looking backwards on 2008, a big downfall for me was not setting my own boundaries. So this meant going along with the group and not looking  out for my goals and priorities. In 2009 while this was definitely a bumpy ride ( as some of my friends can attest to) I learned to protect my own interests and refocused on friendships that were really important to me. Overall it was a pretty significant personal endeavor.

Interacting with New People: I think this is what I’m most proud and surprised by. Over the past year I’ve met a ton of new people and really pushed myself to be more outgoing. I’ve met a lot of great people ( many of them are on this list here) and really got to learn* and explore a side of business that I sort of knew about for a while but didn’t completely understand till this year. I’ve met a few great people who’ve really pushed me to be better in getting out there and improving myself. You know who you are, I really appreciate it.

One of the rainier Patio Fridays with Katie Boland and Philip Moreria (C/O Lee Dale)

The Challenge: In the latter half of 2009 I lost momentum in this area ( job search/moving up north were to blame) I definitely don’t want to see the relationships I started with people wither .There are many people I respect and admire and having lost contact with many people in the past I don’t wish for that to happen again. So moving forward with w/e path I end up taking ,  being more deliberate with meeting people  and perhaps just booking more 1 on 1 time is going to be important.

3. Taking Care of my Health: We can’t always get things 100% right? Alright so this was a fail on my part. While in some regards I was active in that if I was able to I would walk rather than take transit or drive overall the idea of moving towards less of a 1 pack didn’t exactly pan out. Well no excuses in ‘010,  at minimum mornings will be work out time and when I’m able to I’m also looking to snag a gym membership to be even more serious. To put it out there my goal is to bring myself up to 160 in lean mass (I’m right now at around 150). As a secondary benefit I think it would help me gain a much better mental focus.

All in all I think for what the year was, I ended it pretty strong. The external environment could have been better but then who’s to say everything I’ve experienced would have occurred if it had been different. I plan on making a 2010 strategy coming up  (its in the works). It will probably be posted closer to New Years.

*I’ve discussed some  great events on this blog but for anyone looking for future reference 2 great places to learn if you’re a business person learning about the web and entrepreneurship are at SproutUps and Refresh Events( a calendar of  events can be found here also) .

Interacting with members outside of the site: The creators of this site not only interact with members through social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter ( ex: @ kn0thing)  they have offline meetups!  I’ve met with them personally last year during their Drankkit World Tour where they went to major centers and sat down and had drinks with members ( a few pics of me at that event included)  but they even do it randomly including having dinner with a Reddit member who just asked if anyone were interested in going out for dinner.

They personalize: The Reddit alien is a big part of the personality of the website, almost every day  a new drawing of it is posted up depending on current events or project of the site. From time to time as a result of already mentioned meet ups or requests of members the Reddit Alien is redrawn or the Reddit logo even contains relevant pictures. As well the website is in a constant state of change( much like Gmail its in constant Beta)  if there are enough user requests certain aspects of the site are changed.

Not only are they creators, but they are also users: They don’t passively watch the site or attempt to moderate it , they are fully involved members. They aren’t afraid to get in there and post a comment or link and create discussions with other users. They also start side projects that encourage further member collaboration. Sometimes it can be silly such as Mr.Splashypants  but even in more serious matters such as Reddits Feed A Need campaign where users are encouraged to lend their skills and time in helping out a not for profit organization.

Overall I have a major heart on for this site and its creators. As a consumer I have a choice between Digg and Reddit  as they are essentially the same site and many times have the same links but  as Reddit has worked harder to befriend me my loyalty is pretty cemented in place . I’ve included a few pictures from Drankkit Toronto 07 , some with me included. Enjoy!  

The 2 Reddit Creators , Steve Huffman and Alexis Ohanian with Jenna Landry from Wired Magazine

My attempt at a "C" for Canada.... it ended up pretty lame!

Have any Questions/Comments? Contact me at kevin.richard@ryerson.ca or send me a twitter message.

Walks: either with the headphones in listening to the latest music I have or with a friend talking about everything  and anything I enjoy experiencing the streets of toronto ( or anywhere really) and looking at all of the sights and sounds. A lot of the time I find I just zoom by things  and miss all the details, but by slowing down and making yourself more conscious you notice all of the new changes  and goings on around you. 

Books:  It can be  through school reading a sometimes long winded text book or  turning every suspense filled page of the the newest Koontz book ( right now reading Odd Hours!)  reading is something I’ve enjoyed for a long time. My family has always been pretty big on reading and I’ve always enjoyed learning about someones new idea or creative story line. Sitting down with a good book seems to just make everything fade away and places you  in the moment with every word on the page. 

Reddit.com: I came upon this website 2 years ago and come back to it on a daily basis. To best describe it ,its basically a collection of stuff and just randomness. There are always links on this site that make me laugh, or links about a  current events that make me think. Oh and I can’t forget about the crazy marketing campaign they had last year called Drankkit World Tour! Overall a site that doesn’t take itself too seriously. 

Electronic Gaming: Ok I admit it, I’m a bit of a nerd…. I can’t help it! As soon as I had my hands on Super Mario Bros for the orignal Nintendo I was pretty hooked. While I don’t have the time/money to enjoy much of this current generations games ( althought Guitar Hero rocks!) I do from time to time pick up one of the old titles I have such as Halo or SSX snowboarding. Lately I’ve been getting my electronic gaming  fix at Newgrounds and for 2009 I’m looking forward to the release of StarCraft 2!

New Experiences:  from learning a new topic, exploring a new area of town or hanging out with a new friend I find experiencing something new or different exciting. I guess I can blame it on not staying in one place for too long, that gave  me a strong curiousity for things . 

Sleep!:  This is not to say I’m a slacker or anything but I always thought it was a good end to the day. The feeling of the blanket surrounding me, a  pitch black room and a soft pillow under my head , I always thought it a great place to be alone with my thoughts . I actually find I do some of my best  thinking/problem solving directly before and after I go to sleep. 

Questions/Comments?: contact me at kevin.richard@ryerson.ca or send me a twitter message.