This morning I dropped Katie off at the airport and it wasn’t nearly as tearful a goodbye as our previous Swiss partings have been. This time I will be seeing her in a few days rather than a few months and that feels much better! Now that I am a lonely bachelor again, I have a chance to review my progress on the goals I set for myself at the beginning of the year. Just past the halfway point, how have I done so far?
Personal Relationships
So far I have been keeping pace with each of my goals for maintaining personal relationships. Starting up a company is very time-consuming but I have been able to maintain a balance with family and friends–both near and far. Katie and I have been getting our date nights in and I have been reconnecting in person in the US while still skyping with my friends abroad. This summer trip to Switzerland has really helped keep those latter connections alive too. If you feel that I have been neglecting my relationship with you, kindly let me know!
Health
I’m not burning as many calories as I’d like (3,163/day vs. 3,250 target) and I’m consuming more than intended (3,141/day vs. 3,000 target). I am hitting most of my exercise goals, though, and the net result is pretty positive: I’ve added about a pound of lean muscle mass and dropped four pounds of fat–not exceptional, but heading in the right direction. When I head back to the US next week I’m going to try working at a standing desk instead of sitting. I’m hoping this will help me keep moving about and widen the caloric deficit.
Early in the year I accomplished my running goals and in May I met my swimming target; now I must concentrate on beach volleyball. There are several tournaments left in the year and I hope to win one–especially now that my favorite men’s partner is back in town.
Professional Development
I have been powering through one book per week on leadership, economics, strategy, green business, marketing, and just about everything else I can get my hands on. If I keep up this pace, I will meet my yearly goal. While I have been pretty diligent about reaching out to mentors, I have not been quite so systematic about helping out others. Last week at IMD I had the opportunity to share some experience and guidance with this year’s MBA class (Check out the presentation that instigated these conversations.) and it reminded me how much I’m missing out on when I’m not paying it forward. In the second half of this year I must do better.
Professional Performance
The goals I set for Smart Office Energy Solutions at the beginning of this year aren’t terribly relevant anymore as our plan has evolved several times since then. At this point we have hit some major milestones: closed our first fundraising round, begun generating revenue with high profile clients in multiple cities, advanced our own intellectual property to increase the energy savings we provide by 50%, and several more. I’m not a patient person, though, and I yearn to pick up the pace during the second half of this year–for personal reasons, for our shareholders, and for the very significant global energy challenge we are trying to address.
If you haven’t yet voted for us, please support us at GE’s Ecomagination Challenge. We are currently the #65 idea out of 1,089 submissions and every increases our visibility significantly!
Professional Brand
I’m close to achieving my twitter and LinkedIn goals but my blog hasn’t gained too much additional viewership. That’s probably just as well as I am now considering leaving this blog focused on my personal life and starting a more professional blog on the Smart Office Energy Solutions website.
I evaluate my progress so far this year as good but not great. There are no huge holes and there have been some early successes, but several major goals need significant work to be achieved. Now it is time to refocus, buckle down, and ensure that H2 2010 is even more productive than H1!
Waow…Well! I am one of your \”viewers\”… That's for sure! And I am impressed with your goals and your focus! Very impressed.If ever you leave that Blog, make sure you tell me where I can read you!!Oh! I forgot to add… If in all the books you have read, you could recommend me you Top 3… That'd be cool! I'm not as good as you, you see…;o)Big hug!
Of the books I've read for the first time this year, I'd say the top 3 are:\”What the Dog Saw\” by Malcolm Gladwell\”People Skills\” by Robert Bolton\”The Storyboard Approach\” by Kerry ChounYou have probably already read the latter two so I'll offer two others as well:\”Why Marriages Succeed or Fail\” by John GottmanOK, just one actually; many of these books have been underwhelming. If you haven't read \”Hot, Flat, and Crowded\” by Thomas Friedman, though, that was by far my favorite book of last year.