9 Jun
2009

I survived another year

As of June 9, I have officially survived another year. Another year of learning. Another year of growing. And another year of trying to make the best of myself.

I bought a house. I bought a dog. I changed full-time jobs. I even changed BBQs. It’s been quite an interesting year, which is why I wanted to share some of it here. I also have a “personal” blog, but that’s mostly for ranting. This is more of a “rave.”

Growth as a person

Getting older means nothing if you are incapable of learning from the past. The ability to take lessons away from your experiences are what will help make your future better. Lessons like, it’s great to be able to say yes, but it’s even better to be in a place where you can say no.

Or one I learned this year myself: Having patience and understanding will help you get pretty far in life. It’s OK to be wrong wonce in a while and I think a lot of us forget that. When you are patient enough to take a deep breath or three and acknowledge your mistake, you can often come out further ahead than if you had dug your heels in to be “right.”

Another lesson I’ve learned is on what a true “friend” is. I’ve written about it on this site in the past even. But having folks that you can rely upon is one of the most important things in life. One thing I learned recently was the “Soup Metric.” A concept that can really affect your outlook on who you associate with.

Growth as a professional

I recently took on a new challenge and joined a company that has been pushing me to be better than I thought I was. Being able to succeed in this role is very important to me and I am finding that I have the skills and talent to be great.

I am meeting new people and making new relationships that are helping me realize some of my goals. I have learned a lot from the people I have met such as Micah Baldwin, Geoff Livingston and, recently, Drew Olanoff. I have had a blast with people such as Aaron Brazell or Erin Koteki-Vest or Aubrey Sabala.

I have also recently joined the board of Social Media Club Seattle. I am viewing it as a “practice what I preach” adventure. But I already have found many exciting opportunities and look forward to seeing where this pathway of life leads me.

A birthday without gifts?

I simply couldn’t have a birthday without gifts. But this one’s for you, the readers. What I have is a copy of Hugh McLeod‘s book, “Ignore Everybody” that I am going to give to somebody who comments on this post. I want to hear about who you are and why you’re here and how you have grown in the past year.

To put a nice little bow on top, if you’re in the greater Seattle area, I’ll hand-deliver it over a beverage of your choosing.

So tell me, how have you grown in the last year?

UPDATE: I have closed comments. Send an @ reply to me on Twitter to vote for who gets the book.

14 thoughts on “I survived another year

  1. Eric,

    Great idea for a post and a giveaway. Everyone has some great answers.

    I am hear because this year I met Vik Duggal at SXSW and he is the man and it is a great opportunity to call him a friend. you are friends with Vik so I was able to meet you at SXSW to and that is how I got here.

    This past year has been amazing. I have launch multiple successful blogs started a video podcast dedicated to reviewing wines made in North Carolina (NorthCarolinaWine.tv).

    Spoke at events, helping to organize Raleigh first Ignite event and so many amazing things. Best of all I have a wonderful wife and the perfect family and regardless if you send me the book or not, I am the luckiest person in the world.

  2. My Growth This Year
    Pain & Joy -In 2004 my wife Betsy and I are raising twin two year old boys and a three year old girl. (all three adopted as infants)In 2006 with my Betsy’s blessing I left a “good” job to pursure a vocational dream and by 2006 had secured modest startup capital and began a partnership with a good friend and colleague. THEN: The Test- from 2003 to early 2009 I recieved a large dose of life –including intense medical care for my twin boys (1lbs and 2lbs at birth), losing my mother in law, my father and two boxer dogs to cancer. We had a expensive flood in our basement that welcomed in a rat colony (rats not mice).
    By 2006 we were broke and my small start up was limping because just as we were building the foundation my partner learned he had a rare blood disease mutiple myloma.

    NOW-The Present(“The Gift”)Today I am heading towards ten years or intense life altering phenomenal marriage. I live with three healthy boisterous, happy kids, who are transforming me from an adult into a grown-up. My friend made a full recovery from cancer and we self published a book (mini-bio for tweens) and landed a cool gig at West Virginia Univeristy. I too had a recent birthday and took stock of my world–still nutty and I made a quantum lunge emotionally and physically and I am only 43.

    David

  3. I’m here because I’m avoiding organizing my office, and also because “Ignore Everybody” is such a great mindful gift, and in the past year I have learned a lot more about behavior chains, and how to build them or unbuild them with greater control of reinforcement. Also, I’ve learned about freedom as a reinforcer, and how powerful that is, but also how the extinction process is even MORE powerful, and so, I’ve learned I still have questions about how to balance controlling reinforcements (in dog training) with the importance of limiting frustration, and thus reducing the power of the extinction burst.

    What else, I also accept that some people are assholey. It still shocks and amazes me, but being a grouchy asshole is reinforcing for some animals. Some people actually ENJOY being pissed off. Anger is their reward. I think I learned that this year, though I should have learned it long ago. I also should have learned to ignore everybody long ago.

    And who I am is a person, feminine, motherly former hippie flower sort of weird person, who likes to sing/swim/write/garden/train dogs, all at exactly the same high level of interest. I have a wetsuit and live on an island and will sail around the world, beginning 2014. My kids are grown up, my generous husband provides me with home and health insurance and he doesn’t mind, he’s really good about providing, which we appreciate. I’ve been married to him for 23 ever improving years, and I love behavior science. it is my favorite subject. I could talk about it forever. I accomplish at an above average level of quantity and quality, I write fiction, but apparently not above average enough to get a literary agent or sell a novel (yet). I’m still trying, I’ve always got four or five writing projects I am working on, selling the nonfiction seems easiest.

  4. Hugh, happy birthday! I actually wrote a blog post about you today (http://tinyurl.com/nvl3yj), and didn’t even realize you had officially survived another year.

    But enough about you, let’s talk about me. Who am I? A father, a friend and more and more, a listener and a student. The past year has been one of tremendous growth and learning as I really jumped in to the world of Social Media.

    I find you and your site a source of great inspiration. No one else is going to change your situation for you, you have to do it yourself. I’ve learned to stop worrying about what other people think and trust myself and believe in myself.

    I’ve still got a long ways to go, but once you stop worrying about what others will think, you have the freedom to be daring and take risks and that’s where true innovation comes from.

    Thanks for all you do.

  5. Congrats on attaining another year of life. More people need to adopt your attitude on aging.

    My only reflection on last year has been “Where did it go?” Thanks for making me think about where I’ve been. People often ask me if I could do things over would I change anything? Lately I’ve come to realize that if went back and made different choices, my life would be totally different than it is right now. I most likely have a different job, live in a different city, have different friends. While I like to think that this other life might be just as wonderful as the one I’m living, I wouldn’t give up my life as I know it for anything.

    Just a quick comment on David’s reply. While finding your comfort zone might sound like a good goal, remember it’s in the uncomfortable zone that life truly happens.

  6. Happy Birthday, Eric, and congratulations on all the growing and changing you’ve done this year! I’ll second what David said about social media: in spite of all the skepticism from colleagues, I have found that Twitter, Facebook, etc. do help create a personal connection between my organization and other people (you’re one example), somewhat of a surprising discovery. (Seems counterintuitive that technologies *actually* can be personal.)

    As for personal growth, I’ve learned that you learn the most from the really difficult challenges. Sounds like a cliche–“no pain, no gain”–but it’s still hard to remember when you’re in the thick of it.

    Hey, you never tweeted about the new dog!

  7. Thats awesome, glad to hear you’re continuing to find inspiration to become better than you thought.

    I’m in a very transitional phase myself…I just graduated (about 3 weeks ago) and was thrown right into my first job a week later. I am learning a hundred new things every day as Community Manager.

    I’ve found myself facing feelings of excitement, doubt, nervousness, confidence pretty much all at the same time. I don’t think I’ve found my comfort zone quite yet but I’m definitely getting closer.

    Still not sure what lies ahead. Very excited to see where my life takes me as I grow as a professional.

    Over the past year, I’ve learned of the kindness of strangers (mostly via social media), the power of networking and the pain of leaving one life behind for a new adventure in a new place, knowing absolutely no one. I think this past year is when I finally crossed that line into maturity…now I just need golf clubs.

    Dave

  8. Happy Birthday!
    What a lovely way to sum up a year. I have learned many, many things over this last year too. Some of those things include:

    – Tell the people you care about why they are important to you. You never know when you’ll help someone out of the dark recesses of their mind.

    – You must first take a leap of faith. There is no guarantee upon landing. But without leaping, you may never know what more you can be.

    – I am much more skilled than I ever thought. Allowing negative thoughts to cloud your mind limits your ability to believe you’re capable.

    – Everyone needs to be heard. Even when you don’t want to, take a few minutes to ask how someone else is doing and really listen to the response. When people are angry or agitated, they often just want to be heard.

    – Engage everyone in a discussion. You’ll be amazed at what you learn.

    – Networking in the workplace is an important part of everyday. When you ask someone about their life, keep up and continue to show genuine interest, they are much more inclined to help you when you need help.

    – most people are inherently good.

    – many things may be solved by spending a few minutes digging in the earth.

    – We are all looking for something to be passionate about. If we aren’t finding it, why don’t we do something about it? If others around us cannot see the potential for passion, help them find it.

    – Know when to let off the throttle.

    – A sense of purpose may be found in the mundane (cleaning, sorting, maintaining)

    – Continuous learning is critical to my happiness

    – Take time to sit and watch bees fly or the river flow by. You will feel a sense of peace wash over you which is delicious and heart warming.

    I agree with Calvin, there is so much more to be said. So many more lessons learned. This is the reason why twitter is such a god send. It lets us toss around ideas and help others learn from our mistakes.

  9. Happy Birthday!

    It’s amazing how much you can learn and how much life can change in a year. Things I’ve learned:
    – patience helps you through the tough times
    – risks are worth it; even if things don’t go how you plan, you can end up happier and more satisfied if you’re doing something you enjoy
    – learning new things is awesome
    – making time to learn new things is key; I quit the TV/Netflix habit and have been fortunate to have more time to devote to learning the guitar and learning to speak Spanish better
    – hospitality is important; you get to know people a lot better if you invite them into your home/apartment and spend time with them

    This is only a small fragment. It’s hard to summarize 365 days worth of new knowledge and experiences.

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