2009 End of year musings

I know that many people aren’t mad about end of year posts, and that many others think that New Year resolutions are daft.  Both are valid opinions, but I disagree on both counts.  I enjoy taking a little time at the end of each year to examine how my life has progressed/regressed, and I like to set myself a few goals at the start of each year.  I don’t get depressed if I fail to achieve these, but they at least serve as an interesting reminder of what my aims were at a set point each year.

This post follows on from last year’s, which makes for some interesting re-reading (for me at least).  Of the areas I wanted to change in 2009, the single biggest difference is the new job, which has changed my life much more dramatically than I thought possible.  I also managed to get a proper holiday in Bordeaux this year, and my sleeping habits are a little better than in previous years.  Debt levels have also been tackled, and I’m very happy with progress on that front.  Oh, and I got to personally witness the downfall of Declan Ganley (which, given the propensity of his supporters to shout “baby-killer” at me, was something of a pleasure).  Less impressive were my studying (which got discarded half way through the second module), my fitness levels (which weren’t bad until my bike broke down in September, but have gone to shite since), and my personal life (which to some degree has been discarded due to work pressures over the last few months).

All in all, 2009 will be most memorable for the year I drastically changed career, leaving the world of Hedge Funds behind for good.  This alone is enough to cheer me!  The most fantastic thing about my new job is the sheer variety.  Obviously, as Youth & Development Officer, I have a lot of responsibility for Labour Youth, while the Development side of the role has seen me take on responsibility for supporting and developing constituencies in the Mid-West (from Galway down to Kerry, and out as far as Tipp).  But in addition to these, I organised the boss‘ tour around the country during the local and European elections (including logistics, photography and management of interns), started an internship programme within the Labour Party, completed a project to totally revamp the hardware in head office, carried out a survey of all new members of the Labour Party, fed into the development of our website and social media identities, gave several training sessions on political use of social media, generally mucked in around the office a bit, and held more meetings than I could ever hope to remember.  And it has all been fantastic.  Stressful at times, certainly, and very draining on my personal life, but I’m at a point where I really want to throw everything into this experience, and I’m ending 2009 really feeling like I’m doing so.

All of which leads me to the point where I set out some aims for 2010:

• Diploma in Politics and Government.  This course is now being phased out by the Open University, so I only have until Dec 2010 to complete.  Which means I really must sign up to a module beginning in Feb, and fully complete that module.  It would be lovely to have a qualification.  I have no intention of setting any further studying goals – this year I’m going to focus on one target at a time.
• Sleep.  While this is an area that has improved somewhat over the last year, I’m really going to try getting to bed by midnight most nights this year.  My productivity after a full night’s sleep is amazing, and it’d be good to have more amazing days!
• Body stuff.  Right, I know that this is the time of year when people start diets, join gyms, give up smoking etc. only to fail 4 weeks later.  None of which I really intend doing.  However, my weight has ballooned in the last four months of 2009, and it’s simply not healthy.  So, in January, I’m getting my bike fixed (as I know that’s one form of exercise I don’t mind, and just cycling to and from work means cycling 8km a day), giving up chocolate and crisps (again, something I did before with little enough effort), cutting down on the booze a little, drinking more water and not eating after 10pm.  Simple little steps, but ones that I hope will help me lose a stone over the next year.
• Get creative.  My new Nikon D90 has arrived.  While it will often be used for work, it is mine to do with as I please.  I’d like to start taking photos of the many arty and club nights I attend, as well as taking some travel photos, and really try to get decent at photography this year.  I’d also like to get back to a bit of painting, and I’d love to start stencilling.  And I’ve always wanted to do a wee touch of DJing too.  Either way, I want to get more creative so that life isn’t so totally focussed on work.
• Blogging.  I’ve long since realised that I’m never going to be a daily blogger.  Which is fine.  But I would like to get a little more disciplined, and at least post once a fortnight during 2010.
• Travel.  I have a big journey to Africa brewing in my head at the moment.  Details will be revealed at a later point, but I’m hoping to spend 5 weeks in sub-Saharan Africa this year.
• Learn/re-learn a skill.  I haven’t decided which of the following I want to pursue most, but I’d like to get stuck into at least one of these over the next 12 months: Irish language, Singing, Bodhrán playing, German language (if anyone knows of any good teachers in any of these areas, do let me know).
• Meet more online people in person.  I have some really amazing conversations online, and I chat to and follow some really incredible and fascinating people.  I’d like to try and meeting many of these this year, including (but not limited to) McAWilliams, Alan Costello, Adrian + Shane, Tommy, Phil and Mark Coughlan.  I’d also like to try and meet up more regularly with people I’ve only met a few times (and a couple I’ve only met once!): Damien, Darragh, Dena, Alexia, Guy and Declan all fit into this list.  While keeping up the other friendships I’ve built up online, obviously
• Work. 2009 was the year when I got a dream job, and threw myself into it. 2010 will be the year when I really solidify my role, get some new projects underway, and start to make some strong achievements.
• Unplugging my life. Finally, tomorrow morning, I’m unplugging the TV, and won’t plug it in again for 12 months.  If I really need to see a show, I’ll watch it back on a player, but I’m not going to watch any TV.  This is the first step towards unplugging my life, which I might seek to further develop in further years.

That’s it for me.  Wishing you all a happy, peaceful and prosperous 2010, with all my love.