Studying Italian In Italy

In Spring 2011, I was inspired to travel through Italy. I read a lot about work and life balance and how each culture views conscious life-style design. Italians are celebrated (especially in the South) for their hedonistic ‘zest for life’. As a native English speaker with a history learning Spanish, Portuguese, and French I was excited to learn Italian.

WHERE TO STUDY ITALIAN?

For me, the location depends on weather. In summer, I wanted beach. I remember the oppressive heat on past visits to Florence and Rome. While those cities offer tremendous culture, I was looking for something more relaxed.

WHAT IS IMPORTANT IN A SCHOOL?

In the years previous, I had studied Spanish and Portuguese at various schools. When I had time between work and play, I would pickup another few weeks of classes. In total I probably studied at 6-8 schools. I had learned about the qualities I liked in a school.

 

I googled ‘study Italian in Italy’ and found tons of results. I narrowed down to a few dozens schools that met my broad location qualifications and gathered contact email addresses. I created a a form-email (see below) and contacted all the companies. Most replied, and most within 72 hours. In general, if a respondent answered nothing but sent me links to their website, I removed them from my search. Most respondents where very helpful.

Form Email Sent to Schools

Hello,

 

I am interested to study Italian. I will travel to Italy for 3 months this summer. I would like to study for 8 weeks in one location or 4 weeks in one location and then travel to another location for four more weeks. My goal will be to be comfortable and conversational in Italian; listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

Please help me decide on where to study with the questions below. Thank you very much!!!

EXPERIENCE

I am 34 years old and a native English speaker. I travel full-time by myself as a software developer. I studied French in school and remember much, but am out of practice. I studied Spanish for the last 2 years and lived in South American. My Spanish skills are strong. I studied Portuguese for 3 months this year in Brazil and my Portuguese is almost as strong as my Spanish. I know no Italian.

DESIRED TIME/CALENDAR

I am in Peru now. I may arrive in Italy on June 1, July 1, or August 1. I will probably stay 12 weeks in Italy and study Italian for 8 weeks.

DESIRED LOCATION

I have visited Italy 2 times for a total of 6 weeks. I visited Milan, Venice, Trieste, Florence, and Rome. I enjoyed all the locations.

I would like to study Italian in a location that is warm-weather, has a beach within walking distance, and has a relaxed pace of life. A large city which is far from the beach, such as ROME, is not interesting to me. I would prefer to visit there after I complete my studies. I have never visited Italy further south than Rome, but I imagine that Sardinia, Sicily, or the coasts near Naples may be the perfect location.

DESIRED CLASSES

I would like group classes for 20 hours to 30 hours every week.

DESIRED ACCOMMODATION

I am flexible to rent a house/apartment, to live with a local family, or to find a hostel or inexpensive hotel.

My only requirement is to have a strong, reliable internet connection. I need this for work.

ACTIVITIES

I read often about life-style design, living in the present moment, and quality of life. Italy is a well deserved example of a culture with good balance and quality of life. I would love to learn more from the local people and culture about this.

Outside of my classes I may be working 10 hours to 40 hours per week. I require internet to work.

I would also like to spend time at the beach, enjoy walking/hiking, take cooking classes (single classes or a longer study for weeks perhaps), and study piano.

I am a programmer by trade, but I am an artist by education. Opportunities to draw and paint on my own personal time or in a classroom is also very interesting to me.

THE PERFECT SCENARIO

It may not be likely that I can find my perfect scenario. If I had to describe what is perfect it would be to have an apartment of my own within walking distance or a bus-ride to the beach. I would like to study Italian for 5 hours a day 5 days per week. I would also enjoy cooking classes and on the weekends I would take the bus to visit other areas of the country. I would spend time cooking at home, eating at the homes of new friends, and enjoying local restaurants.

I have some questions here…

LOCATION

  • What location or locations can you recommend for me to study Italian?
  • What is the total cost? Per week? Per month?

SCHOOL

  • Can I pay via credit card? How/when is payment made?
  • What is the total number of students in your school learning each week?
  • Do you offer help to meet locals who want to exchange languages over coffee? In previous schools this was free and called ‘intercambio’. I am interested to meet locals and learn/teach a bit like this
  • What volunteer opportunities are there. Outside of studying my free time is very limited, but I’m interested to help out.

CLASS

  • Please confirm the hours per week and the total price (including any registration fees and any credit card charges) for group lessons for two full weeks.
  • Is class totally in the classroom? Or are there walking-tours or other activities?
  • How many hours outside of class is expected for homework per day?
  • What is your class size (# of students)?

ACCOMMODATIONS

  • Do you offer accommodations? Can you recommend any?
  • Do you offer solo apartments with internet and kitchen?
  • Do you offer a shared apartment setup with internet and kitchen?

Thanks in advance,

 

-Sam

I received replies from 20 to 30 schools. From the information I learned, I compared prices, locations, class-size, activities available, and more. There were many exciting opportunities.

COMPARISON OF SCHOOLS

SELECTING THE ‘WINNING’ LOCATION/SCHOOL

After 3-4 rounds of emailing I went from about 20 companies down to 4-5. The remaining companies were located on Sardinia island or on Sicily island. I wrote to anonymous citizens on CouchSurfing.com to ask about their locations in comparison to the others I was considering. Most people were very helpful (and a bit biased toward their city, of course).

 

In the end I chose a non-city, beach location at a school with 20 hours per week for 6 weeks. The administrator was one of the first to email me during my process, and provided the thoughtful / helpful information. When I finally decided on the small city of Alghero, deciding for their school was a simple decision.

ALGHERO, SARDINIA

I read a few websites geared to summer tourism in Alghero.

Alghero is situated on the north-western coast of Sardinia within the homonymous gulf. A large part of its territory stretches on the Nurra plain; at the western point of it, rises the karst-formation of “Capo Caccia, Punta Giglio” and “Monte Doglia”. On its southern point, lays the vast tableland of Villanova Monteleone made up of volcanic hills.

 

Alghero has a sub-tropical warm climate with long dry summers and mild damp winters. Prevalent winds come from western quarters: trade winds mitigate summer heat. From fall to spring libeccio and western winds bring rain, while mistral wind may blow strongly any time of the year. Between december and february, for few weeks, eastern winds bring clear climate, nights are cold and days are sunny.

Algero Beach #1 Algero Beach #2

THE PINTADERA ITALIAN LANGUAGE SCHOOL

I enjoyed 4 great weeks of Italian study at the Pintadera school in Alghero. The city is historic and charming, the (Italian mainland) tourists fill the streets, the markets, and the beaches. It is a BUSY time to visit Italy, especially a beach city like Alghero, but I enjoyed the energy. I walked 20 minutes to school each day and studied 9am to 1pm with a coffee break at an outdoor shaded cafe. Each Monday some students came and went, which was disruptive. We relearned things a few times to accommodate new students, but it was indeed cool to meet a variety of people. I met students from Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, England, Spain (a lot), and others. The teachers were knowledgeable and fun. Overall I had 4 teachers – all of whom were far too critical when students made errors. With my experience studying language I see a good balance between free conversation and being corrected works best for me. Its important to know when we make mistakes as students, to create good habits, but correcting too much stunts conversation. At least a few of my classmates suffered, fearing to speak, from this. However I respect diligent correction as a strategy.

Cooking Class Sailing Boat

The activities offered by the school included a tour of the city, a sail-boat cruise, and a cooking class. I participated in all. I found the activities to be priced too expensive (many at 20 to 60 Euro). Its an expensive town, an expensive country, and a language more commonly studied by older, wealthier students. This is compared to the backpacker trail in Latin American where students have little or no money. I really loved the cooking class. The teacher speaks only Italian and is incredibly fun and funny.

 

The apartment was not centrally located, but was otherwise amazing. It was a huge 3 bed-room apartment with full kitchen. I bought a 3G modem for internet since none was available freely from the apartment. There is a fantastic supermarket near the apartment and the closest (rocky) beach is 5 minutes walk from the apartment.

Overall, I really loved the choice of Alghero, and the choice of Pintadera. Italian is a very fun language to learn and the culture – laid-back & hedonistic and political & intellectual – was captivating.

Filed Under: Dynamic Content Gallery, Italy, World Travel


India’s Highs and Hip Massages

While on an 8 week consulting project in Copenhagen, Denmark, I had the opportunity to extend the contract and deliver my software architecture to the offices of my client’s outsource vendor in India. This team would be doing the bulk of the work on the project. I jumped at the opportunity.

I flew to India for the final week of my contract. I was there to train-up a small team and get them started. After the gig, then take a little time to see India before returning to Denmark to explore Scandinavia for a week or two then return to the States.

When signing onto projects I try to keep enough personal time in the plan to enjoy new countries and new cities.  Here was no exception.  When offered to work in Denmark I planned for 8 weeks work and 3 weeks play.  That flexibility paid off as I could now play a little in India too.

After a successful week of work in Ahmadabad, my clients delighted “I wish we could invite you back in a month to check in, but we can’t afford to fly you from the States”.

“If you are serious”, I instinctively replied, “I’ll check my schedule and just stay in the country longer”.  I did just that.  Returning 5 weeks later, I worked another intense 6 day week.  Adjusting my flights for the 3rd time, I stayed a second full month. My stay in India went from 1 week to about 8 or 9 weeks.

During the first furlough I traveled from Ahmadabad by plane to Mumbai.  There I got on a train for 14 hours to Goa.  I beached along with packs of wild cows, and took a slow boat down lazy mangrove-lined rivers.  I saw the whole coast in small chunks – all the way down to Kanyakumari, the bottom of the v-shape of India outline.

During my second furlough, I explored to the north.  The state of Rajastan contained most of the marvels of the typical westerners’ trip to India.  The famous ‘Golden Triangle’ of tourism covers three captivating cities of the country; ­Delhi (the capital of India), Agra (the city of Taj Mahal) and Jaipur (the land of Rajput kings).  I sped through overcrowded and extra shady Delhi, skipped the one-trick-pony Agra (home of the Taj Mahal and not much else), and went west to Jaipur.  In Jaipur and the surrounding cities, I explored desert temples, golden fortresses, and camel safaris.

While in Jaipur settling into my hostel, I chanced upon some new adventure.  Hostels are social hubs for travel, essential to adventure.  I’d done quite a bit of travel in my life before ever staying in hostels.  In my experience ‘hostel’ were ‘bad hotels’ in Europe – meant for struggling young travelers.  A substitute when budget can’t include a hotel room.  However with more time, I saw that hostel-stays offer a decidedly different way to travel.

The First Encounter

Hostels in India ranged around $USD 8 to $USD 20 per-person per-bed per-nite.  Beds are in shared rooms, with a locking locker for your bed.  If you are lucky, there is an old slow computer with internet and a long line of travelers waiting to use it.  I paid the front desk at [I FORGET THE HOSTEL NAME], locked my bag in my room and went to the internet room.  Sitting down on a antique-looking daybed, I smiled a hello to the girl using one of the 3 computers.  In hostels, luckily, English is the language of choice. Not just in India but worldwide. (This would later prove frustrating when trying to study new, local languages.)  However there is an awkwardness where you don’t know for sure what language a given hosteler knows, so you just nod and say the universal ‘hey’ rather than start a longer conversation.  At least that’s often my M.O.  A guy walked in with a more gregarious disposition and proceeded to evangelize his previous evening’s dining experience to all who would hear it.

“Choki Dhani is a cultural center and a restaurant.  Its quite cheap and worth a look”.  Me and internet girl exchanged glances and nods.  The departing travelers advice helped spark a conversation.  Three hours later she and I were off via ‘Tuktuk’ taxi on a ride to dinner.  Sascha was British and returning home after a year or so working in Australia.  She worked in music and much later gave me a copy of her huge collection of 16000 MP3′s, which still entertain me today.  We traded stories about travel, after an hour we were well beyond the compulsory “What country are you from?”,  “Where have you been on this trip?”, and  “How long are you traveling?”.  We explored this cultural center.

Chokri Dani is a walled dinner theater with 10 stages of various levels of pomp from magicians with 3 viewers, to musicians, jugglers, and snake charmers.  We put our name in for dinner and walked around.  There are times when I am filled with excitement and expectation after meeting a new friend.  Here I was happy to meet Sascha, but wasn’t “trying anything” and neither was she.  We were both rather standoffish I guess.  Weeks later she told me a comment or two in particular really intrigued her like my “Life is really amazing and I’m lucky to live it”.  She was cute and smart and funny (in the classically dry sense).

Meeting Again

Sascha and I traded a few emails. We would be in Udaipur at the same time so we arranged to meet again. I arrived at [I FORGET THE HOSTEL NAME] first and booked us a room. We met on the rooftop for drinks later.

The view from the rooftop of the hostel was gorgeous. A restaurant served food and drinks, music played to a few dozen travelers seated in sofas, large lounge-beds, and traditional dining tables. The second night we’d met a group of Swiss who played music and told great stories. We made a habit of meeting each night that week on the rooftop to discuss our days adventures – whether spent together or apart. That week I was writing an article for a client’s magazine, so I saw a bit more of the rooftop (and my computer that week). I sent my new friends out on adventures during the day while I was ‘at the office’. On the 3rd night, we met a new friend as well.

Gabor, a 20-something from Hungary, approached our lounge area. He introduced himself bending left and right, stretching to show his new-found flexibility. “I have not been able to move like this for 15 years”. He continued, “My doctors told me my back condition was fragile, and any masseuse would likely hurt the situation.” I forget the particulars of his condition, but at that moment he seems perfectly normal and especially happy about it. He explained that Udaipur had a master masseuse who he’d learned of and sought out. Finishing just two sessions, this man had cured him.

Sascha and I immediately became interested, and the next day we went for a session.

The ‘Miracle’ Worker

After some meandering we found the masseuses office on [I FORGET THE STREET NAME]. The master, was in his 50′s and dressed in western clothes. He had dirty denim on denim fashion sense and a long grey pony tail. “Yes, I was able to help your fiend Gabor, and today I can help you. There is only one of me, so who will be first.” We agreed I’d hit the internet cafe and return within the hour.

I walked back in with a few fresh print-outs of my return flight to Europe and looked up as Sascha and the master descending the stairs. She was flushed. White and reddish patches on her face and neck, and she had a seeming calmness (or exhaustion) in her expression.

He continued to sell “So if you want to return tomorrow for that second session…”, she interrupted politely “No I think I will be leaving the city, thanks again.” She signed his guest book, paid, and took-off with little explanation. The master and I walked up the stairs to begin my session.

On the second flight of the stairs, we looked out a bay window in his simple, yet large office building. Regulars on the street looked up as we passed the window. “Every time I go up these stairs, they know I make $40. These people give me bad stairs. Indians don’t want to see Indians make success.” Sad. Another one of the endless examples in India of this ‘spiritual people’ disappointing me and my maligned expectations.

We walked into the massage room. I was struck by how stark it was. Four walls. White. Windowless. No decorations, no furniture, not a single thing, except a mattress in the center of the small room. A bare mattress. No sheets, towels, pillows, nothing.

Should I be “naked’ or “naked-naked” (the latter meaning no underwear). “Naked-naked”, the master replied. This was not uncommon. In my previous massages in the country this was quasi-normal. However the normality ended there.

As I disrobed, peeling my pants out from under my heels, I saw from the corner of my eye – something new. Never before had I seen – while I was taking off my clothes, the masseur was taking of his. I had a brief moment of concern that was mentally-masked by the possibility of a good story to tell (if I would live to tell it).

“Back or stomach,” I asked.

“On stomach”. Face-down on an un-sheeted mattress, he climbed on top. I could ‘tell’ he was naked. He began to whisper to himself (a very common part of Indian massages. He touched my spine three times with two-fingers pressed to together.

“Vertebrae 5, 7, and 11 are out of alignment..” he diagnosed. I thought great, let’s get started, with hasty disbelief. The following hour was “Indian Massage”. An application of oils in fast movements up and down each limb. The oils smelled good and felt warm on the skin. At times he performed acupressure, pinches of muscle, joints, and bone. The motions were ho-hum worthlessly not enjoyable at times and painful at others. Three times I was at the threshold of asking for lighter pressure, but didn’t say anything. After quite some time, I felt like I was there humoring him as compared to all my previous massages this was less than rewarding.

During the massage he talked only a small bit. He mentioned continued diagnoses and a few things here and there. From back to stomach I was completely oiled up. Upon the completion he instructed, “Stand Up, we are finished”. Or something to that affect.

The moment I stood up, I felt like never before. Spine in perfect alignment. I felt ‘taller’ by an inch or 2. This feeling would last all day. I could not help but have awkwardly perfect posture, like I was putting it on for show. Nothing strange or inappropriate happened (to me). The pleasure-during vs. after-effect was flipped on its head compared to the normal massage.

That Night on the Rooftop

That night I reconvened with my friends atop the hostel. We were quested about the massage the first moment Sascha and I had sat down by the curious group. We hadn’t discussed it together yet. We both politely nodded “It was good.” I leaned to Sascha to ask “Wasn’t it weird when he took his clothes off?”

“He didn’t take his clothes off for me”, she giggled. My embarrassment was curtailed by her continuing… “But when he first laid me down, he began to whisper and touched by back just 3 times.”

“Yes, me too.”

“He immediately knew that I had pelvic problems, I hadn’t explained a thing and he told me all about it. Its because one of my legs is just a touch longer than the other. Been an issue in sports all my life.”

“Oh…”

“During the massage he said he could fix it, but only with a second session.” Seeing the masseuses attempt at bilking a bit more money, she negated. “Couldn’t we do it today, I may not be in town after tonight”, she lied. He refused.

When descending the stairs – the exact moment I had entered to see her flushed and red in the face, he’d asked. “Look, I can fix the problems with your hips. I didn’t want to mention it during the massage as it makes some people uncomfortable.”

“What?” She’d asked.

“Well I can fix that problem, but I want you to know I’ll have to put my fingers in your ass.” She refused, and fled before saying a word to me.

For another week of traveling together we had an inside joke. Crossing the room, one of us would ask the other, “Are your hips alright? Do you need a little help?”

Filed Under: Dynamic Content Gallery, India, World Travel


Are We Lost Without Goals?

At the end of 2010 I set aside time to review my accomplishments for the year and to look ahead at 2011. As an avid reader of self-help books and personal management I leanred that goal-setting is a basic, essential ingredient to success. Or is it? I recently read this post on ZenHabits called Living Without Goals.

I believe the author is genuine in his recommendation toward a life of achievement without the over-burdened ‘structure’ and ‘limitation’ of strict goals. However, for me it reads a bit like satire.
I’m goal oriented. The links above illustrate that.

But I really enjoyed the article and it reminded me of a balance issue I think about often. If executing on my goals occupies 100% of my time, when do I improvise? How do I enjoy the subtleties of the moment at hand? What if I’m ‘wrong’ in my goals? What if my goals don’t capture everything and what if my goals change? I guess I have some answers for each of those, but more abstractly I think “How much of my week should be pre-planned and how much should be improvisation”.

“80 percent of success is just showing up” — Woody Allen

I love that quote. Not that success is easy, because ‘showing up’ is not easy. Fear often prevents it. But success is ‘natural’. Its automatic, given the right recipe of conditions. Maybe not all successes, but most. For me, setting goals is ‘showing up’.

The Importance of Goals

Goals are important. But first a bit on the meaning of life. I think the fundamental problem with most people’s lives is solely that they don’t know what they want, and they don’t go after it. In the the west, the latter part is more common – the ambition. But like a headless chicken – still running energetically around the farm, what good is this ambition if it has no direction and purpose. How to decide the direction and purpose is more complex. But in general, if it feels right to you, in a genuine fashion, then you are on the right track.

Finding out exactly what you want is something I think that almost noone seeks. More on that another time…
Now, the gap between knowing what we want…. and getting it, is goals. Goals help us get from a to b. Goals help us measure our progress. Is the progress to fast? Slow down, or more likely is it too slow? Speed up! Measurement helps you analyze (or simply ‘know’) how you are doing.

Personal goal setting also provides us with motivation to achieve what we want to achieve.

The important trick would be to make our goals as detailed as possible. Trying to vividly imagine or describe every thinkable aspect of it so that it becomes clearer in our mind. Then it becomes relatively easier to pursue it. If you don’t have goals then you are just wandering in the wild without any clear idea of where you want to go. That is why goal setting is so important.

What about improvisation?

Do you know what is one of the most important point in goal setting? It is to take action right now, however small. This helps maintain focus.
What is we change our mind? Think about it, honestly, and change your goals. Be careful to change your goals for the right reasons (not out of fear). Goals should be completely fixed, until you care to change them. Ha.

Flexibility

I have a long list of places in the world I’d like to visit. Generally to meet professional goals, I allow myself to be flexible to take a new contract job anywhere. Flexibility is a goal. I may plan to visit C. America, but get invited to the Caribbean. I check the new thoughts and new opportunities against my goals, and the larger plan. If I feel like a change is in my best interest – I go for it.

What about now?

But if we are always acting now on our future goals, how does that leave time for ‘now’. Good question. We know that living in the present moment (without the baggage of the past and the distractions of the future) is liberating and leads to a fruitful life. Improvisation is more of a perspective. It can easily work in concert with goal setting. So one of your primary guidelines should be to set goals that fit with the personality you have (or that you want to have).

Here are some ways you know you are living in the present moment;

  1. You feel fully ‘there’ and alive. Like after 2 cups of coffee, but without the coffee.
  2. There is a complete absence of fear or guilt.
  3. What you do feel is a sense of calm and focus.
  4. You can see the trees, but feel connected to the forest.
  5. You are conscious of each choice you make as you go through your day, and recognize that life is created through these ‘little’ choices, or non-choices, for that matter.
  6. There are no awkward relationships. I love the book The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, A Toltec Wisdom BookSelf-Help Books), by Don Miguel Ruiz . Basically it says, put the ‘real’ you out there in the world and it will minimize the B.S. in life.

Balance

After much experience working while traveling, I settled on the quota of ’20 billable hours per week’ as the perfect blend. I add another 10-20 hours of non-billable hours (pre-sales with new clients, maintaining expertise by learning, maintaining internal projects, etc…) and I have a full ‘work week’. This leaves ample time to explore my surroundings and enjoy leisure time. 20 hours is an ideal. To meet other financial goals, I must offer 40 hours a week to my clients. This makes my impact more significant and makes me a competitive option against full-time employees or other contractors (where 40 hours is the assumed hourage). So my goal is to offer my services at 40 hours per week to capture the clients I want. I had to flex here from my original ’20 billable hours’. This is a compromise. Its a balance between the ideals and the practical realities needed to meet my larger goals.

Recipe

  • Pretend your heart is the size of your head. – Declare your dreams.
  • Pretend you are fearless – Set your goals.
  • ‘Show Up’, Reach for your goals while living in the ‘now’.
Filed Under: Goals, Lifestyle Design


2011 Annual Preview

As we look forward to the future, having goals in mind both helps us focus and helps us measure our progress. I’ve included goals here for travel, work, learning, and much much more.

I’m writing this during the week between Christmas and New Years Eve 2010, from Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles. I plan to revisit my goals regularly throughout the year, but not to update this original article. At year’s end I’ll compare the Preview and a Review of the year 2011.

In the last week of 2010, I completed my 2010 Personal Annual Review. I outlined the year calendar, travel, goals, and more. In 2009 I had not set formal, measurable goals, but I had many clear objectives. The reflection was very valuable and I learned a lot. I saw too, the value of laying down a plan for the near future has tremendous value. So here is my preview (or plan) for the coming year;

Objectives

  • Enjoy!
  • Learn!
  • Work!
  • Travel!

Theme : Year of Refinement

My goal for 2011 is to bring me more abundance and to refine my life as a Location Independent Professional (LIP). I feel strongly that location independence is a fantastic fit for me, this is proven. I like the freedom of choice it offers and I’ve built the discipline to capitalize on the many opportunities it presents.

Now I want to expand on how to do it more efficiently and in a manner more fulfilling. I want to travel smarter (i.e. cheaper), save more (goal of buying a condo – see more info below), build more business (evolve on the utilization and rate of 2010 but more-so to network better to find more opportunities to choose from), and to express more gratitude.

I want to read more, think more, and act more on gratitude. This will include more gratitude in personal relationships as well as more formal commitments like volunteering opportunities.

Calendar

To frame the events of the year, here are some locations I plan to visit;

Travel 2011 (Flights Booked as of January 1, 2011)

  • Aruba (Again)
  • Venezuela – In Transit
  • Brazil (Again) – January 18th
    • Rio
      • Portuguese Intensive classes
      • Carneval. Woo + Hoo!
    • Sao Paolo – March 16th
      • (Tentative deal to) Work in-office for world-class interactive designers. Woohoo again!
  • Peru – April 18th
    • Hike Macchu Pichu
    • Skiing?

2011 (Other Travel goals)

  • Love Brasil? Stay not just 3, but 6 months
  • Then…? Options…
    1. More Latin America?
    2. Mediterranean loop (Croatia around to Tunisia)
    3. S. E. Asia?

Goals

Goal Overview

I set objectives and goals in the important areas of my life; Business, Writing, Promotions & Marketing, Family & Friends, Financial (Earning, Giving, Saving), Learning, Health & Sport, Spirituality, Travel, Coaching & Support, Volunteering, …& Fun!

SMART Goals

The objectives are the passion and the fuel toward growth and goals are my measurable way to reach the objectives. I once attended a training session on creating SMART goals; a strategy to clarify what I want, plan for how to get it, and maximize the returns gained.

SMART goals are;

  • Specific – The goal should identify a specific action or event that will take place. Answers the question:Who and What?
  • Measurable – Include in the specific goal statement the measurements to be used to determine that the results or outcomes expected have been achieved. It answers the question: How
  • Attainable – Goals should challenge people to do their best, but they need also be achievable
  • Relevant /Rigorous – Goals need to pertain directly to the performance challenge being managed.
  • Time Bound – Enough time to achieve the goal And Not too much time, which can affect project performance. It answers the question: When?

Goal Categories

To help me review my goals at a glance, I’m starting each bullet item with a category. This will help me plan.

  • SMART – ONE-TIME*
  • SMART – WEEKLY*
  • SMART – MONTHLY*
  • SMART – QUARTERLY*
  • SMART – ONE-TIME – RESEARCH – This goal will likely turn into several goals, after a bit of research and planning is done.
  • STRETCH – These need not be smart. They are lofty goals where reaching for them is notably more important than attaining the end result.

* These time-based categories refer to either doing the goal, or simply checking in on the goal.

Goal Details

Business

I am the Principal of Rivello Multimedia Consulting. Offer four core services in software development; Architecture, Development, Consulting, and Training. I will continue with those.

My income is active; an hour worked is an hour paid. I know that passive-income (earned ‘while I sleep’) will offer me more freedom and opportunity. I would like to diversify more of my income to be passive. Currently, I post pay-per view training videos with online training companies, as well as write a successful blog (this one) which runs off ad-revenue. I would like to expand that idea and develop other ideas like it. I want to explore more in this area. Developing a product (e.g. iPhone App) is another passive-income opportunity. Owning a product is a high-risk investment. I’m keeping my eyes open for that as well.

I would like to explore finding more ways to do business. Currently I offer services and write articles. I’m open to the business, financial, and personal benefits of creating a product, reusable templates for website products, etc…

I want to merge my N&T interests with business. RMC can stay as is, but I’m open to write/speak/consult about travel and lifestyle design. I’ll explore that. Documenting my journey now will be good later for memories and writing reference; journal? photos? Hmmm….

I typically offer my services in two capacities; I engage as an individual joining my client’s team or I build and lead a team to complete a client project. I am a salesman in both cases and in the latter I own the project, project manage, team manage, handle the client, and lead develop. I would like to explore offsetting more of these responsibilities to others. Instead of building a team of designers and developers, I’d also like to find a project manager / client-liaison.

  1. ONE-TIME: Make a role description outlining my ideal responsibilities in RMC. Include exceptions (i.e. not-project management, not art)
  2. ONE-TIME: Make a mission statement(s) (Think holistically; RMC vs N&T vs Personal)
  3. ONE-TIME: Set goal of X weeks at Y hours-per-week working. List purpose of the rest of time (vacation, travel&accommodations-setup, free-time, learning)
  4. RESEARCH: Generate More Passive Income
    • Set contact goals and ‘pitch’ goals for training (lynda.com, http://www.totaltraining.com/, and ad-revenue based site-ideas.
    • Other ways?
  5. ONE-TIME: Contact 3 freelance project managers to blue-sky (brainstorm) what they could do for me. Develop a role-description for my own use and consider this when pitching to clients.
  6. ONE-TIME: Speak or write (paid or unpaid) on a non-technical issue; travel, LIP, lifestyle design, etc..
  7. RESEARCH: In addition to RMC-services consider offering ‘products’.
    • Think of some things I can create once and sell with minimal customization
    • Possibilities:
      • Create a ‘hostal website template’ and sell it (quick turnaround) to hostel clients. For pay or barter.
      • Create a ‘scuba website template’ and sell it (quick turnaround) to scuba shop clients. For pay or barter.
  8. ONE-TIME: Make a list of top technologies/job-qualities I want to look for in a prospective job.  e.g. PushButton, Scrum, etc..

Writing

In 2010 I began a 5-article series for Adobe’s EDGE magazine on Flash game development. The assignment was profitable, good for promotion, and very interesting (as I chose the writing topics myself). Each article requires about 16 hours of time for editorial content and 40 hours for how-to content (which includes a sample programming project). My current assignment ends in January 2011. I would like to pitch ideas for more assignments. I have written about the programming sub-topics of Robotlegs and PushButton (two core focuses of my services), so I’m less keen to write ‘how-to’ articles. In the interest of time, perhaps editorial content is better for me.

In 2004 or so, I set goals for activity within my industry; conference presentations and technical writing. There was a time when it felt like the next step was to write a book chapter or book within my field; software. However, after some investigation it felt a bit like publishers do you a favor (paying you little so you can get promotion). This realization shifted my focus to write about something else. I’m still interested to evolve a book out of my interests in lifestyle design, mindfulness, and travel.

I’m also keen to build my blog business (like this website). I know that regular, relevant, interesting posts are needed. In 2011 I would like to blog more with the specific goal to build my audience.

RMC

  1. ONE-TIME: Pitch to EDGE to write more content. Possibilities
    • Add five more articles in the Flash Gaming series (What topics?)
    • Each EDGE issue: Review of free, online Flash Games
    • Each EDGE issue: Interview creator of one free, online Flash Game
  2. ONE-TIME: [Set goals for N&T blog – 12 articles, 6 original, and 6 outsourced]

N&T

  1. RESEARCH: Explore “Location Independent Professional” as a personal brand/identity. A voice to write from. An audience to write for.
  2. MONTHLY: Increase N&T twitter followers from X to Y
  3. MONTHLY: Increase N&T monthly traffic from X visits to Y visits
  4. ONE-TIME: Pitch a book to a publisher
  5. RESEARCH: Write Syndicated Column? – Pitch to a list of venues; print & online on a list of topics; Travel, LIP, Tech? Paid or good-exposure.

Promotions & Marketing

I own and operate many websites. Some for whimsy, some for site-creation practice, some for promotion, and some for revenue. My core business lives on RivelloMultimediaConsulting.com. I would like to consolidate my site and blog for a more cohesive presentation and update my blog more regularly to encourage readership.

I would also like to bring in more offers for business. Currently I find new projects and I am found for new projects. The former requires active-time, the second (once setup) requires only passive-time. I will do research on how to market myself more effectively to bring in more offers.

  1. ONE-TIME: Add a ‘So What is N&T About’ post on N&T and direct newbies there. Make it simple.
  2. ONE-TIME: Find PR reps that could help promote RMC.
  3. ONE-TIME: Migrate location of my blog from (http://www.blog.rivello.org/) to (http://www.RivelloMultimediaConsulting.com/blog/). DONE
  4. ONE-TIME: Redesign and re-theme new blog to match core website (http://www.RivelloMultimediaConsulting.com). DONE
  5. MONTHLY: Triple the incoming offers of business for RMC. First find a solution how, then implement that solution.
  6. MONTHLY: Publish 1 portfolio post upon completion of each RMC client project
  7. MONTHLY: Publish 12 posts (1 per month) to new blog;
    • 6 editorial – review of and commentary of a game, product, api, website, etc…
    • 6 original – Update on my API’s, demo project, sample templates, helpful hints for programmers, etc…

Family & Friends

In 2010, I hosted two family trips. My mom visited me in Ecuador, and later, my sister and her fiancee did too. Its not always easy to imagine what my non-traditional life is like. So it was cool to show my family more about my day-to-day. My mom and I spent more time together than we had during past holiday visits. We had a great time. Living far from them for 10 years and traveling extensively as well, I don’t see my family as much as I would like. Its a compromise for sure. Rather than only view ‘going back home’ as the way to see them, I’d love to host more family this year too.

I met an amazing array of new friends in the past year. Some were backpackers, some were locals. I spent time with some friends who visited me too.

I spend a great deal of my time by myself as well. At times I am lonely too. I would like to make a more concerted effort to socialize.

  1. ONE-TIME: Host 2 family trips
  2. ONE-TIME: Visit family for 1 two-week trip
  3. ONE-TIME: Host 2 friends
  4. ONE-TIME: Host 2 CouchSurfers
  5. RESEARCH: [TBD, Goal about socializing more]

Financial (Earning)

Blah…..

  1. MONTHLY: Raise the value of my services by 25%
  2. MONTHLY: Book at 1/3+ of my contract-jobs as flat rate (more risk, more profit) rather than hourly

Financial (Saving)

When I began full-time travel I had many unknowns to explore. With my current level of experience I know that budgeting effectively, I can greatly increase my income and decrease my expenses for a greater end-year net.

In 2010, I saved for taxes (of course) as well as maximized my retirement savings. But did not set goals beyond that. I would like to put more concrete goals around saving. My gross income is broken into business expenses and income. My income will be broken down as shown in the chart.

I have no plans to find a permanent residence this year, but I like the idea of buying a property. I’d like to purchase land for investment or a condo to rent-out for passive income.

  1. ONE-TIME: Structure an income budget (see chart) and stick with it.
  2. ONE-TIME: Structure a monthly living budget. TBD.
  3. RESEARCH: Write a an appraisal and prospectus for 3 types of properties I may buy to fuel further thought;
    • Condo in Buenos Aires (Urban, Spanish, on-site work opportunities)
    • Tropical Latin (Rural, Spanish, Beach)
    • Tropical Asian (Rural/Urban, Beach)

Financial (Giving)

Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present. – Albert Camus

  1. RESEARCH: Evaluate and find a core charity that resonates with me. Must be 501(c)(3) and have a web presence. Perhaps focusing on technology, teaching, art, hmm….(TBD). Done. Sponsored 2 Children Monthly at Children.org.
  2. ONGOING: Develop a per-country tipping standard upon arrival and use it. Research what is relevant rather than defaulting to either the high 20% (US standard) or low 0% (oops I forgot traveler’s-standard).
  3. QUARTERLY: Increase my Kiva.org lending kitty from $233 to $1000 by year-end. Done. Increased to about $1088.
  4. QUARTERLY: Donate 5% monthly income to one charity in each country I live in (2+ months)
  5. QUARTERLY: Donate 5% monthly income to core charity. Done. See #1.

Learning

I read a vast amount this year; paper-books, e-books, and online content. I surely read more for pleasure than any previous year of my life. The readiness of information is mind-boggling. I can google anything of interest, travel there, and live it. My kindle downloads a book anywhere in the world on any subject; first chapter free. Its ridiculous. I read mostly non-fiction and mostly self-help. I’d like to branch out to read some fiction.

I wanted to take cooking classes in every country. That goal was a miss. But the classes I did take I loved. It was not only a forum to learn kitchen skills, but also a rare opportunity to talk with a local for hours at a time.

I’m very fortunate that I love my work. Within software development there are countless technologies, specializations, and jobs within that specialization. I’ve focused on just the Adobe Flash Platform and even within that the granularity is vast. Last year I learned the frameworks; PushButtonEngine game architecture and Robotlegs application architecture. Both served me well on paying gigs. This year I’d like to build my experience on them and also to build my related reputation.

  1. MONTHLY: Read 12 books by year-end
  2. ONE-TIME: Present at a conference on Robotlegs by year-end
  3. ONE-TIME: Present at a conference on PBE by year-end
  4. ONE-TIME: Complete 30 Portuguese lessons from The Pimsleur Language Program by January 20th(I completed 20 Pimsleur lessons, then too 5 weeks of class in Rio.)
  5. ONE-TIME: Complete 4 weeks of group Portuguese classes in Brazil by April 18th. Done. I started at week 4 at Casa Do Camino, thanks to Spanish experience and Pimsleur audio lessons. I then studied for 6 weeks at Casa Do Caminho.
  6. ONE-TIME: Be able and comfortable to converse in Portuguese for 1 hour with a native speaker by April 18th. Done. I practiced for 6 weeks after taking classes and can converse well.
  7. BONUS: While not planned at year’s start, I also studied Italian for 4 weeks of group classes in Alghero, Sardinia, Italy. I then studied Italian for 2 weeks of group classes in Rome, Italy. Done. As of years end my best languages in order are now English (of course), Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, then French.

Health & Sport

I have set and met many health and sport goals in the past 10 years. I ran dozens of 5k/10k races, completed the Mayors Midnite Marathon in Anchorage, Alaska, climbed an 8-hour volcano, and hiked 2 day solo in Chile.

I improved my confidence and skills in Scuba. I completed my certifications in both Nitrox and PADI Rescue Diving and I logged about 40 (no idea really) more dives. Learning more about sea-life would give me a better appreciation.

In 2010 I led an occasionally active life. I swam, ran, hiked, and walked when the opportunity arose. I had no regular regimen to speak of. I cooked most of my meals and ate healthfully often. I would like to target some specific goals this year.

  1. ONE-TIME: Build a weekly diet & exercise routine by February 14th.
    • A Conscious diet
    • Daily workout
    • Weekly activity objectives
  2. WEEKLY: Now ‘do’ the Diet & Exercise routine
  3. ONE-TIME: Memorize the common names and photos of the top 50 Caribbean fishes and creatures.
  4. ONE-TIME: Get IKO certified as a kite-surfer.

Spirituality

I enjoy learning about Zen, meditation, life-balance, and mindfulness. From 2004 to 2006 I regularly attended meditation classes. I have lost this as a regular practice, and miss its benefits of relaxation, focus, and clarity. Its not quiet that I feel like something is ‘missing’ without this practice, but having practiced regularly before, I’m excited for the increased alertness, perspective, patience, and peace that comes with it. I would like to continue exploring these topics and to establish a regular meditation routine.

  1. ONE-TIME: Read 8 Minute Meditation: Quiet Your Mind. Change Your Life. and build a daily routine by February 14th.
  2. ONGOING: Seek local yoga and meditation classes during travel
  3. MONTHLY: Attend 6 classes
  4. ONE-TIME: First visit to acupuncturist
  5. ONE-TIME: First visit to reiki practitioner

Travel

Should a goal be to ‘see every country in the world by my 40th birthday’? This type of goal sounds enticing. What traveler wouldn’t want to say they’ve seen at all, at least a peek at it all! I’m moving from ticking off another country to goals that fulfill my objectives more closely. So for now, I’m not setting such an aggressive goal. However travel of some structured sort is a passion, an objective, and a goal.

In 2010 I lived in (2+ months) five in new countries; Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, and visited 3 others; Aruba, Curacao (in Transit), and Bonaire.

  1. QUARTERLY: ‘Live’ (stay 90 days or length of visa) in 6+ new countries
  2. ONE-TIME: Go to the airport with bags packed and no destination in mind; and fly.
  3. RESEARCH: Think About This More… (Come on, this should be EASY for me….)

Life Assessment

I’m interested in life-assessment coursework such as the uber-popular book The Purpose Driven® Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?. In some ways I’m working a program like that on my own, but I could learn volumes from an established program like these.

  1. RESEARCH: I’ll keep this in mind.

Coaching & Support

I would like to employ more support. Build a network, community, whatever that helps refuel and inspire me, is an outlet for me to share and help others, and also to offload some responsibilities to others to meet my goals.

RESEARCH: Possibilities

  • More brainstorming, dreamscaping, and ‘checking-in’ with family and friends
  • Literary Agent
  • Speaker Services Network
  • Talent Agency for development consulting
  • “Evangelist” Represent a technology or a product at conferences, online, etc…
  • Coaching
  • Find people who have higher standards than normal, to me to influence, inspire, and push me
  • Look for PR people to promote me
    • Promote myself as LIP at conferences
    • Promote myself as LIP w/ flash-centric-audience articles
    • Promote myself in entrepreneur/tech/lifestyle mags

I will setup a regular schedule to meet to review my progress with my coach of 3 years to refine goals.

  1. BI-MONTHLY: Meet bimonthly with my current life-coach to review past progress and refine future goals.
  2. ONE-TIME: Build a list of characteristics in an ideal mentor and mentoring relationship. Seek a mentor (online?).
  3. ONE-TIME: Find (or be found) by a mentee who wants to make the transition to professional living and travel as a location independent. Assist him/her. Explore that.

Volunteering

I would like volunteer more time this year.

  1. ONE-TIME: Touch base with Adobe Youth Voices Volunteering and get a list of opportunities.
  2. RESEARCH: Find 2+ venues to volunteer and do it!

Fun!

With a little less formula to the goal-setting, here goes the final section…

Making mistakes in Spanish that get me in trouble, nodding ‘yes’ when I really mean ‘I have no idea what you are saying’, swimming in the ocean at sunset, going Scuba diving with a flashlight at mid-nite, mixing caiparinhas and cooking grilled swordfish on a Tuesday afternoon with a group of backpackers, explaining NFL football to the Dutch, laughing hysterically while faltering through Kite-surfing lessons – This year has been tons of fun. I want to push myself into the odd, uncomfortable situations, with whimsey and just see what happens. Its comfortably uncomfortable and I enjoy the improvisation.

Part of my profession is to play, design, and develop video games. I miss playing Xbox360 and PlayStation3 as I don’t have those consoles while traveling. But I want to make more time to play games.

  1. FUN!: Make and take bets and dares with new friends. Not a measurable goal, and that’s A.O.K.
  2. FUN!: Don’t take myself too seriously. I catch myself breaking this one all the time. I’m aware of it, but sometimes only after the fact.
  3. FUN!: Once a month, simply google ‘Best iPhone Game’ and ‘Best Casual Game’. Buy/download 2 leading choices and play them.

TIMELINE

I drafted these goals on paper between Christmas and New Years Eve 2010. I migrated them to this blog post on January 1, 2011. I will vet them (too many goals?, too few goals?, appropriate goals to capture my objectives?), ensure all goals are SMART (see above) and revise the post by January 15th. At this point they will set.

My objectives, and thus my goals may change over the course of the year. They are plastic. My intention is to change them only out self-improvement and not out of doubt or fear. My dream is not meet only the dreams here exactly as is. Instead this is a template by which I can help measure progress during the year, and then again at year-end.

Filed Under: Annual Goals, Annual Preview, Personal Growth


2010 Annual Review

Personal Annual Review. Done!

I recently finished a great book, ‘The Art of Non-Conformity’, by Chris Gillebeau of AONC.com. I read enthusiastically about personal growth. This books boils down many concepts about self-actualization and independence into a short easily-digestible read. Reading Chris’s blog I was impressed with his thorough annual review process. He takes a look at what worked and what didn’t worked in the past year, and sets goals for the future.

Inspired, I did the same. Here is my personal annual review.

Review of This Year: 2010

I had a fantastic year. I traveled extensively while working and learning.  I made growth in many areas of interest. I learned massive amounts too about how to do it all better; including setting more rigid goals.

High Points of the Year

  • 8 new countries. 38 lifetime (I think).
  • Attained non-US-resident status.
  • Reached advanced proficiency in Spanish
  • Fully employed all year; 2 great, engaging software projects. One game, one business-app.

Year in Pictures

Packing North Brasil 1 North Brasil 2 Rio Fun 1
Rio, Apartment 1st, First Class Rio Fun 2 Sao Paolo, Hotel
Quito, House Quito, Botanicals Galapagos 1 Galapagos 2
Cartagena, Apt. Venezuela Beach Angel Falls, VZ Beach Hut, Aruba

Calendar

To frame the events of the year, here are my locations by date.

  • USA – Holidays with the family.
  • Brasil – January 14th
    • Maceio – Spoke at Adobe Flash Conference – FlashCampBrasil.com.br
    • Recife – Met local web developers
    • Praia Da Pipa – Fantastic surf town
    • Rio – Fell in love with this dynamic, diverse, amazing city.
    • Buzios
    • Sao Paulo – Big city where all ‘business gets done’. Great city, a lot like New York. I love New York(TM), but I don’t want to live there.
  • Argentina – In Transit – 24 hours – Amazing memories.
  • Chile – In Transit
  • Ecuador – April 13th
    • Quito – Reconnected with a great college friend, hosted 3 friends and 3 family members who visited. Studied Spanish
    • Galapagos Islands – Experienced a great natural wonder of the world.
  • Colombia – July 13th
    • Cartagena – Lived in a fantastic apartment, Scuba’d met many locals, LOVE that colonial city-center. Hosted a friend and colleague for a 10 day visit.
    • Santa Marta (Rodadero & Taganga)
  • Panama – September 1st
    • Panama City – Visited local IT companies. Surprising this ‘Miami of Central America’ doesn’t have much opportunities within my field.
    • West-Coast Beaches
  • USA – September 13th
    • Attend Sister’s Wedding & Visit family
  • Panama – September 22nd
    • Toured Panama Canal
    • Bocas Del Toro – Another “Disneyland for Gringos”. Like being at any American party-college (where everyone is minoring in Spanish).
    • San Blas Islands – Wow! Picture-perfect beaches.
    • Scuba Rescue Certification
    • Studied Spanish
  • USA – November 8th
    • Visit a new client in Philadelphia
  • Venezuela – November 15th
    • Margarita Island – An island with a its own pro-baseball team. Go Braves!
    • Canaima – Toured Angel Falls – Natural World Wonder
  • Aruba – December 5th
    • Nitrox Scuba Certification
    • Join a friends family vacation. Fantastic.
    • Kite Surfing Certification
  • Curacao – In Transit
  • Bonaire – December 23rd
    • World-class scuba
    • Christmas
    • New Years

Highlights

  • Vastly improved my Spanish. Now Advanced. I’m done with classes for now. What a great ride! I feel I must work a 1-3 month contract-job in a Spanish-speaking office as a next step. Or choose a new language (Portuguese) and start again.
  • Took Cooking Classes. In RIO, I later found my inquisitive classmate was a journalist and wrote an article in the Rio Times Newspaper about us.
  • Saw Pro Soccer at the world famous Maracana Futbol Stadium in Rio
  • Flew my first first-class flight. Rio to Buenos Aires. Amazing! Not 3-times-the-price-amazing though…. (I used Frequent Flyer Miles….)
  • Two more Scuba Certifications and many great dives
  • Kite Surfing – I’m new but already love it.
  • Best apartments; Copacabana, Rio De Janiero, Brasil and El Laguito, Cartagena, Colombia
  • Favorite new city: Rio.
  • Favorite new country: Brasil. (Everyone asks me “What’s your favorite place ever?”. Not sure, I don’t really do ‘superlatives’,… but for now – Brasil.)
  • Full employed every month of the year. Three total clients.
  • Great work/life balance. Average billable hours – 30 per week. With networking, learning, and socializing, I averaged about 50 hours on computer per week.

Books Read

I have a practice of reading only select parts of books. Particularly since the Amazon Kindle e-Reader that I have provides the first chapter of any book free (amazingly awesome).  The list of all books I’ve partially is vast so I won’t include it.

Here is a list of the books which I read completely this year.

Guidebooks

Music

I very rarely listen to music (sorry iPod), except when I’m working – where I listen pretty much nonstop.

Here are the tracks from the 5 of the albums I really enjoyed in 2010.

Summary

Business

I was fully employed all year. I was able to take vacations, coordinating with client needs. Good balance. I had three main clients;

  • Adobe – I wrote a 5-article series for Adobe EDGE on Flash Gaming.
  • I’m contracted as a salesman on behalf of a South American Flex application development company. They look for software development clients in North America (my territory) and Europe. I’m more interested in creating solutions than selling solutions, but am very excited about continued opportunities here.
  • I created a team of contract-developers and led development on a Engineering Adobe AIR desktop application for 10 months.
  • I created a multiplayer gaming API for a social network.
  • I gained expertise in new technologies. Robotlegs, PushButtonEngine, and Adobe AIR.  The first two will continue to be core services I offer.

Ideal Client

Over the past few years I’ve refined what I look for in a potential client project and what I look for in a potential client to create a winning engagment. Here are thoughts;

  • Payment Type: Hourly helps control risk and is preferred in most circumstances, especially for first-time clients.
  • Accounting: Upfront partial payment is ideal. Especially for first time clients. Good sign of faith and this also greases the slow wheels of accounting in many companies.
  • Billable hours: 20-50 per week, avg. Shoot for 30. Clients expect 40.
  • Industry: I like both applications and games. They are complimentary processes and skillsets, which I enjoy.
  • Independence: I prefer to use the technologies I want (Robot Legs & Flex 4 for apps, Flash 10 & PBL for games)
  • Flexibility in schedule
  • Risk: I liked ‘owning’ the whole project and subcontracting to designers / developers. Perhaps being on another’s team too would be cool. However, working hourly reduces stress and is a better way to offer my best without compromises and bikering that comes from Client’s questioning ‘Why isn’t my new request covered under our existing flat-rate contract?’
  • Learning is important to me on each project (self-learning in most cases – but I’m open to work with others who can teach me)

Building Expertise

Adding new expertise to your professional repetoire is good for business. Brings more opportunities and being ‘the expert’ in anything welcomes new opportunities. Truly being the guru is not my goal, open, honest competence is.  Being an early adopter in creating proven, effective solutions help to maintain a competitive edge.

With RMC I offer 4 services. The services are all related to Adobe Flash Platform. Within that I specialize in the Robotlegs framework for applications and the PushButtonEngine framework for games. Specializing is not easy and in the last 18 months I added these two specialities. I see a pattern in my approach. First I learn OF a technology. This requires that I am well networked and well read on novel things in my field. I read my blogs through iGoogle each workday for just about 15 minutes. When I’m interested I make time to do some experiments for my own use and demos for public consumption which I post on my blog. This requires good time management (as its unpaid work and striking while the iron is hot is best, no delays to learning it).  When I have vetted the new technology as well-aligned with my business, personally interesting, and technically effective, and marketable as well I cross-compare to other solutions before deciding to focus on it.

Becoming an expert in something that is truly helpful, but that noone wants, is counterproductive of course.  Sometimes this requires patience to wait and see how the community embraces or rejects a new way of thinking.  Then I like to offload the cost of learning to others. This is not always possible, but in the case of my two specialties I pitched to clients wto write paying articles about how to use each. I researched, learned, and refined my workflows WHILE writing an article on it.  I used to struggle with perfection, but now I’m comfortable to start a project using tools I don’t fully know yet. I only need to feel confident what I want to do is possible. This frees me to try more new things and again, offload the cost of learning onto a client’s dime.  Then I evangelize the technology in the community. Now that I’m invested in the framework, helping its popularity is in my political interest.  Hopefully, I’ve played my cards write and my praise is well-received.  This process helps me expand the value of what I can offer (specialization) and the way in which I find work (promotion).

Reflection Questions

What went well this year?

  1. Travel – Covered much of ground, getting to know my surroundings. Good pace.
  2. Learning: Spanish, scuba, reading.
  3. Fun – I really had fun. I met some amazing new friends and reconnected with old friends too.
  4. While living an non-traditional, non-conformist life, I thrived, not just survived.  I improved my hourly rate, maintained health (and US health insurance), maxed out retirement savings, saved properly for taxes.

What did not go well this year?

  1. Contract Negotiations – I fell into less than favorable terms. I didn’t get ‘burnt’, just crispy.
  2. Budgeting – Spent too much. Particularly on accommodations.
  3. Goal Setting – I didn’t set enough formal, measurable goals. I really want to for the future. So I will.

What went… ‘huh’?

I’ve had a lot to think about. Writing about my life, living a life ripe for introspection and constant evaluation has been a great growing experience and a bit tedious as well.  I feel somewhat self-experimented.

  1. Travel vs Sedentary life – Is this a good vs bad discussion? Not sure.
  2. “I wish I could do that.” #1 thing I hear from people as they learn about how I live. Really anyone can live a more self-actualized path. Anyone reading this at least. I’m inspired by this comment though, and think of it as a call to action to help others improve their lives however they want to improve ‘em.
  3. #2 thing I hear… “Don’t You Get Lonely?”. I do. Feeling that whole issue out as well. I also get, “When is it going to end?” – No idea, but I’m not sure ‘it’ has to ‘end’.

What’s Next?

Good question. I’m laying out my goals for 2k11. Coming soon…

Please leave any comments and questions below and I’d love to answer them here too.  Pardon my grammar and spelling. Rapid, free, stream o’ consciousness is my goal, nothing more formal.

Filed Under: Annual Goals, Annual Review, Personal Growth


Book Review: The Guinea Pig Diaries

Excerpt from the book jacket:

In his role as human guinea pig, Jacobs fearlessly takes on a series of life-altering challenges that provides readers with equal parts insight and humor. (And which drives A.J.’s patient wife, Julie, to the brink of insanity.)

I loved The Guinea Pig Diaries, by A.J. Jacobs. It came into my life just yesterday – I spotted it while out shopping and couldn’t resist the title, especially since Jacobs’ The Know-It-All had been highly recommended by Carrie from Books and Movies (The Know-It-All is currently sitting in my to-be-read pile).

It’s rare that I decide to read a book on the day that I receive it; I’m such a moody reader, and my mood has to coincide with a book’s genre, plot and theme first. But late in the afternoon yesterday, I was feeling a little down, so I decided to read an essay or two from The Guinea Pig Diaries because I just didn’t feel in the mood for a novel.

What a ride those first few essays were! I couldn’t stop at just two essays; I ended up reading the entire book last night.. Did I say “feeling a little bit down”? It’s hard to stay down when you’re laughing out loud, and laugh out loud is exactly what I did while reading this book.

The charm of the book doesn’t stop there, though. Jacobs is very funny, but his words are more than pure comedy. He takes his experiments seriously, and writes about the insights he’s gained during the course of each experiment. Each essay ends with a Coda that talks about how the experience of the experiment itself has altered his life, for good or for bad.

And the experiments run such a wide range. There’s his outsourcing experiment, where he decides to spend a month outsourcing both his work and his personal life to a team out in Bangalore, India:

I had [Asha] call AT&T to ask about my cell phone plan. I’m just guessing, but I bet her call was routed from Bangalore to New Jersey and then back to an AT&T employee in Bangalore, which makes me happy for some reason.

Then there’s the month he decides to give Radical Honesty a try. Radical Honesty isn’t just about not lying; it also requires you to remove that filter from your brain and your mouth, so that you’re always – and that’s always – saying what you think:

One other thing is also becoming apparent: There’s a fine line between Radical Honesty and creepiness. Or actually no line at all. It’s simple logic: Men think about sex every three minutes, as the scientists at Redbook remind us. If you speak whatever’s on your mind, you’ll be talking about sex every three minutes.

There are other experiments, too. There’s the month he decides to live his life according to George Washington’s 110 Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour in Company and Conversation; the month he gets a taste of what being a beautiful woman is like when he persuades his sons’ nanny to let him handle her online profile at a dating site; there’s the time actress Mary-Louise Parker agrees to write an essay for Esquire about what it feels like to pose naked (with an accompanying photo), provided Jacobs agrees to appear in the magazine naked too; and there’s the time he appeared at the Academy Awards disguised as a celebrity, for his “240 Minutes of Fame”.

My favourite piece, though? It’s a toss-up between “The Rationality Project” and “Whipped”. During Project Rationality, Jacobs decides to eliminate all cognitive biases from his brain for a month:

As one scientist puts it, we’ve got Stone Age minds living in silicon-age bodies. Our brains were formed to deal with Paleolithic problems. When my brain gets scared, it causes a spike in adrenaline, which might have been helpful when facing a mastodon but is highly counterproductive when facing a snippy salesman at the Verizon outlet.

What I liked most about “The Rationality Project” was the aftereffect Jacobs experienced as a result. There’s something that’s so appealing to me about letting go of the assumptions we make all too readily about various situations in life, and Jacobs highlights some real long-term benefits of his experiment.

In “Whipped”, Jacobs decides to go along with readers’ suggestions that he make it up to his wife for all that she has  had to put up with during the course of his quirky quests and experiments:

I need to pay Julie back in a more appropriate fashion. I need to spend a month doing everything my wife says. She will be boss. I will be her devoted servant. It will be a month, they say, of foot massages and talking about feelings and scrubbing dishes and watching Kate Hudson movies (well, if Julie actually liked Kate Hudson movies, which she doesn’t).

How could I not enjoy reading about that? Jacobs was figuring that his wife would get bored of being in charge. Do I even need to say it? That didn’t happen.

I loved The Guinea Pig Diaries. It was funny, yes, but each essay also made me think. And to me, that’s essay writing at its best.

I’m very eager now to read Jacobs’ The Know It All – or at least, I would be, if it weren’t for the fact that he misspelled Wayne Gretzky’s name in that book (and that is an inside joke you’ll only get once you’ve read The Guinea Pig Diaries).

Interview

Acknowledgments

Store

Filed Under: Mindfulness, Personal Growth, Reviews


Book Review: Blink

In 1983, an art dealer approached the Getty Museum in California with an ancient Greek statue called a kouros — a sculpture of a male youth — in remarkably good condition. Naturally the museum conducted in-depth tests to determine whether the statue was genuine. It passed all of the scientific and technical tests to determine its authenticity, but when it was shown to expert geologists and art collectors, they identified it as a fake in seconds. The Getty later discovered that they were right.

Blink, Malcolm Gladwell’s second consecutive national bestseller, examines those first, crucial seconds.

“There can be as much value in the blink of an eye as in months of rational analysis,” writes Galdwell, who is also a staff writer for The New Yorker. His book asks the question: What would happen if we took those instincts seriously?

Blink comes replete with real-life examples of a phenomenon that Gladwell dubs “thin-slicing.” When we thin-slice, he says, our minds take extremely small samples of data and somehow find patterns or keys that we use to draw broad conclusions. In fact, he argues, we do it all the time. It is why car salesmen tend to start their prices higher with women than with men, even when claiming no gender bias. And it is how psychologist John Gottman can analyze a couple for fifteen minutes and predict with 90% accuracy whether or not they will still be married fifteen years later.

As the book progresses, Gladwell challenges his readers’ assumptions regarding the human decision-making process. He writes about the United States military’s 2002 Millennium Challenge, a massive war game that pitted Blue Team (the “good guys”) against Red Team (the “bad guys”). In the scenario, designers outfitted Blue Team not only with superior armies but also with a complete rational analysis of its opponent’s abilities, likely moves, and communications. Red Team, on the other hand, represented a rogue commander in the Middle East threatening to start a war in the region. Despite having a numerical, statistical, and intelligence advantage, Blue Team suffered a severe defeat.

Gladwell attributes Red Team’s victory to its choice of unpredictable methods — for example, using World War II lighting signals and letters in place of radio communications — and to the rogue team’s snap-judgment and ingenuity in the heat of battle. In the face of such tactics, Blue Team’s vast collection of information proved to be a handicap.

From this, the author concludes that too much information can confuse our decision-making. When we have to completely explain everything we do, he says, it hampers the effectiveness of our unconscious thinking. Hidden deep inside us is an instinct born out of experience. Sometimes it is better to go into a situation partially blind, he argues, because too much information overloads our consciousness and prevents our minds from acting on our mysterious, but powerful, unconscious reasoning.

Gladwell’s strength as a writer shines throughout Blink. He has a knack for emphasizing specific points or drawing parallels without being overbearing. In fact, it seems that the more Gladwell emphasizes something the more curious we become. Every chapter engages the reader by beginning with several pages of a dramatic, real-life example. When seeing the war game between Red Team and Blue Team unfold, for instance, one wonders what lesson the author will draw out of it.

Blink also succeeds on a literary level because Gladwell always writes with a specific concreteness in his prose. Even when discussing abstract concepts that could easily turn the book into a theoretical mess, he tackles the information with a wonderful balance of sophisticated intelligence and down-to-earth simplicity. All of his claims come from real-life examples, and every important person that Gladwell interviews he also physically describes, so the reader can form a more visual, comprehensive picture. Instead of writing another psychological study or treatise on social theory, Gladwell writes for the common man living in the real world.

Blink’s pleasant readability has only one hiccup. In his chapter-six discussion of the manifestation of emotions in facial expressions, Gladwell suddenly starts using very technical — and unhelpful — muscle terminology. The reader must trudge through sentences like this: “The inner brow raiser (frontalis, pars medialis) plus the brow-lowering depressor supercilii plus the levator palpebrae superioris (which raises the upper lid) plus the risorius…” In this section I found myself skipping over his long descriptions of which facial muscles were moving because it felt too tedious to follow. In context with the rest of Blink, it seemed quite out of character.

It would be easy for skeptics to doubt the conclusions of Gladwell’s research. Just because thin-slicing is true for marriage, one might argue, doesn’t mean it’s true across the entire board of human snap-judgments. I found some of Gladwell’s experimental findings and statistics tended to raise questions about the details — questions that are never really answered. This is especially true with claims that I found hard to believe at first glance. For instance, Gladwell writes that something as trivial as indicating their race on a test can lower the performance of black students. That’s not something I wanted to accept right away. His use of such specific and diverse examples made me wonder whether any research goes against such findings. If such studied exist, he never brings them up.

That said, Gladwell has a knack for turning the tables on readers who may not like a given conclusion. By exposing the “dark side” of snap-judgments, like a racial bias in our unconscious, he provides hope for solving these problems.
Rather than fear our hidden unconscious, Gladwell encourages readers to harness the “power of thinking without thinking.”

Those who enjoyed The Tipping Point will probably enjoy Blink as well, as it follows in the spirit of understanding the world in order to make it a better place. Anyone interested in the realities of human thinking would do well to pick up Blink. It might surprise you just how wrong — and how right — we humans can be.

Acknowledgments

Store

Filed Under: Personal Growth, Reviews


64.5 Ways Location Independent People Earn a Living

By Corbett, originally published on FreePursuits.com

Have you ever wondered how you could earn a living that would allow you to live and work anywhere in the world? Many people already living that dream shared the details of how they make a living in the recent Location Independent and Digital Nomad Survey.

64 of their answers are below. The results might surprise you if you thought location independent people were all bloggers or online business owners.

The truth is that these people earn a living in many different ways. Sure, there are plenty of freelance writers, consultants and web developers, but there are also professional musicians, lobbyists and land developers on the list.

Check out these 64.5 real ways people earn a location independent living:

  1. Database consulting for MySQL
  2. Sales (other peoples’ products)
  3. Public affairs and public relations working in digital engagement
  4. Updating blogs and ghostwriting
  5. Through coaching and consulting, by helping expats and diplomats cope with homesickness and culture shock, staying focused on their goals and overcoming the emotional and motivational challenges of expat life
  6. As a music composer and sound designer along with running an audio production company
  7. Website design and audio engineering
  8. Through a business that produces ready-made newsletters, sold online to people cross North America
  9. Graphic design for a Fortune 500 company
  10. As a freelance writer, involving blogging, copywriting, ghost writing and article and e-book writing
  11. Affiliate marketing
  12. Software development, end user support, training, documentation, database management, project management, technical marketing & strategy and producing travel content
  13. As a self-employed webmaster, blogger and travel writer
  14. Communications strategy consulting and content development
  15. Running a yacht charter company
  16. Professional poker player
  17. Freelance script writer and script doctor
  18. Online community manager, community consultant and entrepreneur
  19. Translation and related language services
  20. Instructional designer and consultant for large businesses
  21. Reporting, copywriting, and marketing consultation
  22. Project Manager for an electronic medical records software company
  23. Geographical information analysis for research institutions
  24. Consulting services for organizational development
  25. Selling information products and coaching
  26. IT project management and regulatory compliance
  27. Web development
  28. Senior consultant for a large data services/hardware company
  29. Customer service manager for online software company
  30. Website design and management with 2 major contracts
  31. Sales (conducting phone sales with Skype to contacts in the US)
  32. Market research
  33. Writing for other people, recording conferences and audio programs and selling “stuff” on-line
  34. Web developer
  35. IT systems design and software implementation
  36. Creating websites to sell online niche products
  37. Freelance translation of technical documents
  38. Working as a full time employee at home for a major IT company
  39. Through three websites and some freelance design work
  40. Building blogs and websites for small companies and social media consulting
  41. International airline/aviation consultant and lobbyist
  42. Land development and consulting
  43. Affiliate marketing manager and digital marketing consulting
  44. Through recurring income from web hosting and support contracts
  45. Adjunct professor specializing in online learning (teaching and designing online courses)
  46. Consulting, training and coaching in the fields of new ways of working and information worker performance
  47. Professional musician
  48. Public relations for creative (advertising, marketing, PR, design) firms
  49. Working for a publisher (writing, illustration, photography)
  50. College instructor
  51. Health and wellness coaching
  52. Running a web application with a monthly subscription model
  53. Consulting in software development
  54. Selling an extension to a popular content management system
  55. Working for Matador Network and Where There Be Dragons
  56. Arts consulting
  57. Business advisor
  58. Manage operations of online business
  59. Senior IT consultant
  60. Marketing coach and copywriter
  61. Trading forex (foreign exchange)
  62. Owning an internet business
  63. Selling online eBooks
  64. Running a technology sales website

and… 64.5.  Start a sole-proprietorship (A self-employed status in USA), pay 300$ for a website, and start traveling.  Worked for me (Samuel Asher Rivello of Rivello Multimedia Consulting)

Filed Under: World Travel


Learning to Cook in Rio

By Felicity Clarke, Senior Contributing Reporter,

Originally Printed in the Rio Times Online, on Mar 30th, 2010

RIO DE JANEIRO – Like all food cultures, Brazilian cuisine is at its best when its cooked with love and served at home. For those looking for an insight into Brazilian food and culture, what it’s about, how it developed and most importantly, how it’s done, Cook in Rio’s cooking classes provide an afternoon of tasty Brazilian flavor.

Students enjoying the fruits of their labor after class, photo by Verônica Mirian.

Since September of last year, Carioca restaurateur Simone de Almeida has led the Cook in Rio classes. “It started with teaching Brazilian cooking to friends from other countries who visited and grew from there,” says Simone. “Cuisine is a way for people to get together and if you want to know about a culture go to the kitchen. Different cultures have different approaches to cooking and from that you can better understand the thinking.”

Cook in Rio’s classes are held in Simone’s Portuguese tapas bar restaurant Tasco Do Lido on Rua Ronald de Carvalho in Copacabana. The cozy colorful space with a mural ceiling and open kitchen bar has a instantly warm and welcoming atmosphere making it a great venue for a lesson in Brazilian home-cooking.

Simone starts with the first vital step of a good cooking endeavor: the cook’s drink. Although there’s a generally relaxed attitude to measures when it comes to Caipirinhas (what else?), Simone gives guidelines of one lime per person and two dessert spoons of sugar muddled with ice and a generous dose of quality cachaça and makes sure all the students get involved in the making.

Sipping on classic Caipirinhas, Simone goes on to get the class making rice, banana farofa and deep fried aipim chips. While everyone makes the side dishes together, Simone explains a little of the history of the national cuisine. “Brazilian food is essentially a big melting pot mix of Portuguese, African and Indian flavors. It has its roots in slave food because it was them who cooked for the rich Portuguese colonials and influenced the cuisine with African flavors and techniques.”

Lively and animated, Simone is typically Carioca in her assertive friendly manner and is skilled at ensuring everyone is at ease and involved. In contrast to other cooking classes where each participant has a station and cooks individually according to a series of strict demonstrated steps, Cook in Rio classes are an informal communal effort.

Cook in Rio class starts with a Caipirinha, photo by Verônica Mirian.

The main dish of this particular class was the Bahian fish stew moqueca, although other class menus include feijoada. As the sliced green peppers and onion fry in the nutty African palm oil, Simone answers questions and continues to dispense tips and insights into Brazilian food.

Advice such as always buy the cheap palm oil (“look for the ugly bottles”) because the small producers are the best, and be polite with the chili sauce and leave it for people to add themselves (“Bahians like their food spicy but Cariocas don’t”).

Everyone sits down together to eat the deliciously rich coconut fish stew washed down with a pineapple Caipirinha. With gentle teasing and a light social ambiance, the home-cooking is matched by a relaxed homely atmosphere.

Conversation turns to cooking classes and Sam Rivello, a traveling computer software consultant from California explains that he loves to take a class in every country he visits: “It’s a cool way to learn about a culture. I don’t care so much about remembering exactly how to do the cooking but it’s having the opportunity to ask questions about the culture, food and language,” he says. “It’s social as much as it is fun and educational”

Filed Under: Food, Rio De Janeiro, World Travel


Book Review: New Economy Superstar (Free)

I’m very proud today to present to you this new free eBook entitled New Economy Superstar.

This is the first book I’ve published here at Free Pursuits, and I hope you enjoy it. My goal for the book is to help people become aware of the tremendous change and opportunity going on in the way people live and work.

Technology, outsourcing, the recent global economic meltdown and a growing desire of workers to take control of their own future is giving small businesses and individuals advantages over big businesses that hasn’t existed before.

I’m convinced that this change will be the biggest opportunity of this generation. This could be your chance to live a happier, wealthier, more independent life.

What’s in the Book?

  • Why the New Economy is the biggest opportunity of this generation
  • How small businesses and individuals are beating big businesses
  • Who the Superstars of the New Economy are and how to join them
  • How the benefits of the New Economy will enable your dream lifestyle
  • 10 essential tips for succeeding in the New Economy and how to get started

I’m very happy to have included fantastic guest contributions in the book from Chris Brogan, Gary Vaynerchuk, Chris Guillebeau, Chris Garrett, Lea Woodward, Jonathan Mead, Adam Baker, John Bardos, Colin Wright and Andrew MacPherson.

Acknowledgments

Store

Filed Under: Business 101, Personal Growth, Reviews
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »