Here is a short list of non-english words which carry such specific meanings that they cannot be translated into English. Very interesting read.

Bakku-shan

Language: Japanese

Here is another great Japanese word with no English equivalent (though I am sure someone can come up with one in the comments). Bakku-shan is the word for a girl who looks pretty from behind but ugly in front. I can’t find out whether they have a word for the reverse situation, or for that other frighteningly common problem these days, where you think a girl looks good from behind only to discover that she is a he! Modern fashion has a lot to answer for!

Biritululo

Language: Kiriwani (Papa New Guinea)

It is the act of comparing yams (potato-like vegetable) to settle a dispute.

Cafuné

Language: Portuguese

The act of tenderly running one’s fingers through someone’s hair. (Altalang.com)

Dépaysement

Language: French

The feeling that comes from not being in one’s home country.

Duende

Language: Spanish

While originally used to describe a mythical, sprite-like entity that possesses humans and creates the feeling of awe of one’s surroundings in nature, its meaning has transitioned into referring to the mysterious power that a work of art has to deeply move a person. (Altalang.com)

Esprit d’Escalier

Language: French

That witty comeback that you think of moments after leaving the situation in which you might have been able to use it. The staircase is a reference to your departure from the scene. This is a dreadful thing to experience, and most of the time we don’t get a chance to say the clever thing we come up with. Now, someone just needs to coin a term for the person who is so clever that he always says the right thing, without fail.

Forelsket

Language: Norwegian

The euphoria you experience when you’re first falling in love.

This is a wonderful term for that blissful state, when all your senses are acute for the beloved, the pins and needles thrill of the novelty. There’s a phrase in English for this, but it’s clunky. It’s New Relationship Energy, or NRE.

Hyggelig

Language: Danish

The complete absence of anything annoying, irritating or emotionally overwhelming, and the presence of and pleasure from comforting, gentle and soothing things. It is especially associated with Christmas time, grilling Danish sausage on long summer evenings and sitting around lit candles on a rainy night.

Ilunga

Language: Tshiluba / Bantu (Southwest Congo)

A word famous for its untranslatability, most professional translators pinpoint it as the stature of a person who is ready to forgive and forget any first abuse, tolerate it the second time, but never forgive nor tolerate on the third offense. (Altalang.com) It’s the “three strikes and you’re out” policy. In 2004, it had the sole distinction of being chosen as the world’s most difficult word to translate.

Iktsuarpok

Language: Inuit

To go outside to check if anyone is coming. (Altalang.com)

Jayus

Language: Indonesian

A joke so poorly told and so unfunny that one cannot help but laugh. (Altalang.com)

Koi No Yokan

Language: Japanese

The sense upon first meeting a person that the two of you are going to fall into love. This is different than love at first sight, since it implies that you might have a sense of imminent love, somewhere down the road, without yet feeling it. The term captures the intimation of inevitable love in the future, rather than the instant attraction implied by love at first sight.

Kyoikumama

Language: Japanese

A mother who relentlessly pushes her children toward academic achievement. (Altalang.com) No doubt we are all familiar with the stereotype of Japanese mothers who push their children far too hard when it comes to schoolwork. Literally translated this means “education mother”.

La Douleur Exquise

Language: French

The heart-wrenching pain of wanting someone you can’t have.

When I came across this word I thought of unrequited love. It’s not quite the same, though. Unrequited love describes a relationship state, but not a state of mind. Unrequited love encompasses the lover who isn’t reciprocating, as well as the lover who desires. This phrase gets at the emotional heartache, specifically, of being the one whose love is unreciprocated.

L’appel du vide

Language: French

‘The call of the void’ is this French expression’s literal translation, but more significantly it’s used to describe the instinctive urge to jump from high places.

Litost

Language: Czech

Milan Kundera, author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, remarked that As for the meaning of this word, I have looked in vain in other languages for an equivalent, though I find it difficult to imagine how anyone can understand the human soul without it.The closest definition is a state of agony and torment created by the sudden sight of one’s own misery.

Mamihlapinatapai

Language: Yagan (Tierra del Fuego)

The wordless, yet meaningful look shared by two people who both desire to initiate something but are both reluctant to start. (Altalang.com) Oh yes, this is an exquisite word, compressing a thrilling and scary relationship moment. It’s that delicious, “on the edge” moment of imminent seduction. Neither of you has mustered the courage to make a move, yet. Hands haven’t been placed on knees; you’ve not kissed. But you’ve both conveyed enough to know that it will happen soon very soon.

Prozvonit

Language: Czech

This word means to call a mobile phone and let it ring once so that the other person will call back, saving the first caller money. (Altalang.com)

Qualunquismo

Language: Italian

Are you one of those people who really don’t care all that much about politics and issues in society? Then this word applies to you. The term came from a political party in Italy, in 1944, which promoted anti-political feelings and a mistrust of public organizations. The party was called the “Fronte dell’Uomo Qualunque” or the front of the ordinary man. Rather appropriate considering how many people obviously feel this way about politics as is evidenced by the low voter turnouts that we often see in elections.

Retrouvailles

Language: French

The happiness of meeting someone again after a long time. This is such a basic concept, and so familiar to the growing ranks of commuter relationships, or to a relationship of lovers, who see each other only periodically for intense bursts of pleasure. I’m surprised we don’t have any equivalent word for this subset of relationship bliss. It’s a handy one for modern life.

Saudade

Language: Portuguese

One of the most beautiful of all words, translatable or not, this word refers to the feeling of painful longing for something or someone that you love and which is lost. Fado music, a type of mournful singing, relates to this word. (Altalang.com) Another linguist describes it as a “vague and constant desire for something that does not and probably cannot exist.”

Schadenfreude

Language: German

Quite famous for its meaning that somehow other languages neglected to recognize, this refers to the feeling of pleasure derived by seeing another’s misfortune.

Tartle

Language: Scottish

The act of hesitating while introducing someone because you’ve forgotten his or her name. (Altalang.com)

Tingo

Language: Pascuense (Easter Island)

Hopefully this isn’t a word you’d need often: the act of taking objects one desires from the house of a friend by gradually borrowing all of them. (Altalang.com)

Torschlusspanik

Language: German

Translated literally, this word means gate-closing panic, but its contextual meaning refers to the fear of diminishing opportunities as one ages. (Altalang.com)

Toska

Language: Russian

Vladmir Nabokov describes it best: No single word in English renders all the shades of toska. At its deepest and most painful, it is a sensation of great spiritual anguish, often without any specific cause. At less morbid levels it is a dull ache of the soul, a longing with nothing to long for, a sick pining, a vague restlessness, mental throes, yearning. In particular cases, it may be the desire for somebody of something specific, nostalgia, love-sickness. At the lowest level it grades into ennui, boredom.

Uitwaaien

Language: Dutch

It means to walk in the wind, but in the more figurative (and commonly used) sense, it means to take a brief break in the countryside to clear one’s head. It is amazing that one word needs so many in English to make the same sense.

Wabi-Sabi

Language: Japanese

Much has been written on this Japanese concept, but in a sentence, one might be able to understand it as a way of living that focuses on finding beauty within the imperfections of life and accepting peacefully the natural cycle of growth and decay.(Altalang.com)

Ya ‘aburnee

Language: Arabic

Both morbid and beautiful at once, this incantatory word means ‘You bury me’. It is a declaration of one’s hope that they’ll die before another person because of how difficult it would be to live without them. It’s the sickly sincere “How Could I Live Without You?” in Arabic.

Yuanfen

Language: Chinese

A relationship by fate or destiny. This is a complex concept. It draws on principles of predetermination in Chinese culture, which dictate relationships, encounters and affinities, mostly among lovers and friends. From what I glean, in common usage this word means the “binding force” that links two people together in any relationship. But interestingly, fate isn’t the same thing as destiny. Even if lovers are fated to find each other they may not end up together. The proverb, have fate without destiny, describes couples who meet, but who don’t stay together, for whatever reason. It’s interesting, to distinguish in love between the fated and the destined. Romantic comedies, of course, confound the two.

Zalatwic

Language: Polish

It is the use of friends, bribes, personal charm or connections to get something done. This was particularly useful in the days of communism, as it was easier to get something you wanted through guile as opposed to official means.

–

Sources:

The source for all of this post comes from these great sources.

• http://listverse.com/2010/09/23/10-words-that-cant-be-translated-to-english/
• http://listverse.com/2011/06/17/another-10-untranslatable-words/
• http://matadornetwork.com/abroad/20-awesomely-untranslatable-words-from-around-the-world/

Following my  2011 Preview plan for the year here is my 2011 Review which summarizes the progress on that plan.

Summary

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.

Highlights

• Visited 6 new countries. 44 lifetime (I think).
• Visited 3 new world wonders (Machu Picchu, Pyramids at Giza, Petra). 4 lifetime (I think).
• Took cooking classes in 5 new countries.
• Worked for the majority of the year; game projects, API (coding) design/development, mobile development (iOS/Android), and a couple of prominent writing gigs.
• Learned, from scratch, both intermediate Portuguese (PT) AND Italian (IT). I’m comfortably conversational in PT and can do pretty well in IT.
• Partied at Carnival in Rio De Janeiro, Brasil and was interviewed by Globo News (Videoclip Removed From Internet)
• Toured the Apurimac River (Peru) – Camping and rafting along on one of the worlds top 10 sport-rivers. Fantastic!

Best Of…

• Apartments; Raquel’s Apartment in Rio De Janeiro, Brasil & Alghero, Sardinia, Italy.
• New city: Venice, Italy. After my 3rd time there, I see that as a tourist, it is absolutely unique and spectacular.
• New country: Bolivia & Turkey. I knew NOTHING about either at year start. Both are fantastic.
• New technology: Apple’s iPad2.
• New TV show: An Idiot Abroad. Hilarious travel documentary of a begrudging English tourist.

Calendar

Before 2011, when I created my 2011 Preview, I had plans for a second trip to Brazil and a first trip to Peru planned. I had thought other possible locations would be ‘More Latin America’ or a ‘Mediterannean loop (Croatia around to Tunisia)’. I also though of ‘S.E. Asia’.  I reached Brasil for the duration of my 3 month visa, and lived in Peru for the duration of my 2 month visa. During that time, I learned so many great things of Bolivia and Italy, I added those two countries and more to my itinerary.

Here are all locations I visited in 2011 by date;

• Bonaire – Started The Year Here, Dove Amazing SCUBA Sites
• Curacao – In Transit
• Aruba – In Transit
• Venezuela – In Transit
• Brazil – January 19
  • Studied Portuguese for 6 Weeks
  • Partied for Carnaval in Rio De Janeiro
  • Hangglided to Sao Conrado
• Peru – April 16
  • Cusco
  • 4 Day Hike to Machu Picchu – Breathtaking
  • 4 Day Rafting
• Bolivia – June 5
  • La Paz
  • Lake Titicaca – Hiked in the moonlight. Beautiful
  • Uyuni – Drove a 3 day jeep-trip through surreal landscapes
  • Potosi – Toured an active silver mine with 10,000 daily workers
  • Santa Cruz
• Spain – June 27
  • Madrid – Visited Museums & Parks
• Italy – July 2
  • Alghero, Sardinia – Studied Italian 4 weeks
  • Toured – Venice, Florence, Cinque Terra, & Tuscany
  • Rome – Studied Italian 2 Weeks. Visit Top Sites
• Switzerland – In Transit
• Turkey – September 17
  • Istanbul – Toured ancient Mosques
  • Fethye – Cruised for 4 days between Turkey and Greece (2 times)
  • Cappadocia – Hiked and biked through the mountains & caves
• Egypt – October 17
  • Dahab – Scuba dived, free dived, snorkeled, read books, ate very well. FANTASTIC budget location
• Israel – November 8
  • Tel Aviv – Walking Tours & Dinner with Friends
  • Jerusalem – Fantastic City! Wow. Culture tours + food tours
  • Dead Sea – Floated around
• Jordan – November 13
  • Petra – Truly fantastic
  • Wadi Rum – Camping in Desert
• Egypt – November 18
  • Cairo – Experienced a moment of revolution, first-hand
  • Aswan – Cruised for 2 days down the Nile river
  • Luxor – Karnak Temple
• Turkey – November 28
• Italy – Dec 1, In Transit
• USA – Dec 2, Visit family

Photos

Hanggliding	Cooking @ Peru	Machu Picchu	Rafting
Peru Mountains	Bolivia Tomb	Bolivia Lakes	Madrid @ Night
Cooking @ Italy	Cinque Terra	Tuscany	Ruins
Turkish Mosque	Turkish Coffee	Egypt Diving	Petra @ Jordan
Climbing	Pyramids @ Giza	Carvings	Revolution

Books I Read

My beloved product, the Amazon Kindle e-Reader broke TWO times. I finished the year by reading boring old paper books. Ha.

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

• ENGLISH
  • NON-FICTION
  • The Time Paradox, by Philip Zimbardo – A study on how personalities and cultures perceive time (pace of life, business, etc…). A very interesting read.
  • Conversations With God : An Uncommon Dialogue (Book 1), by Neale Donald Walsch – (Read My Review)
  • Conversations With God : An Uncommon Dialogue (Book 2), by Neale Donald Walsch - (Read My Review)
  • FICTION
  • Private, by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro - Fun, cheesy thriller.
  • The Infinite Plan: A Novel, by Isabela Allende – It is, what I’m learning, is typical Latin American literature – about the lives of a quirky multi-generational family.
  • The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson – The 3-book series was engaging and surprising.
  • The Girl Who Played with Fire, by Stieg Larsson
  • The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest, by Stieg Larsson
• SPANISH
  • La Metamorfosis (The Metamorphosis), by Franz Kafka – Dry and boring. Otherwise, good for language learning.
• PORTUGUESE
  • O Pequeno Principe (The Little Prince), by Antoine De Sant-Exupery – Fantastic fantasy for kids and adults alike. Great for language learning.
• ITALIAN
  • Diabolik (Comic Book Series), by Angela and Luciana Giussani – I read 4-5 small books and one large graphic novel. Fun, campy (cheesy) reading. Great for language learning.
  • Short Stories In Italian (New Penguin Parallel Text), by various authors. Stories of mixed quality and interest. Great for language learning.
  • Una Breva Guida Illustrata Per Comprendere L’Islam, by Conveying Islamic Message Society. Brief overview of the history and practices of the Islamic religion. Great for language learning.

Music / Audio Book

Some of the stuff I enjoyed;

• BOOK
• The Roots of Buddhist Psychology, by Jack Kornfield. Peacefully read, the author explains a practical, modern approach to daily benefits from Buddhist thought & perspective.
• Never Be Lied To Again, by David J. Lieberman.  Provoking overview of the words & gestures of lying.
• The Nine Steps to Financial Freedom, by Suze Orman. Abrasive aggressive author reads basic financial wisdom and recommends a personal financial world-view.
• MUSIC
• Buddha Sounds, by Various Artists –
• Donavon Frankenreiter, by Donavan Frankenreiter –
• Putumayo Presents ‘Congo To Cuba’, by Various Artists – Soulful world music and blends of cultures
• The Complete 60′s Bluenote Sessions, by Herbie Hancock – Nice variety of soft-yet-funky jazz.

Goals Overview

I wrote an article for this blog N&T called “Are We Lost Without Goals?” after reading about success-minded people who find goals are not the answer.  While there are drawbacks to goal-setting, I still enjoy it as a basic framework toward progression and self-improvement.

How To Read These Goals

Here is a summary of my goals, by category for 2011.  I list the goals as they were originally stated in my 2011 Preview, and then added information about the progress.

Each bullet-point begins with ‘One-Time’, ‘Research’, and ‘Monthly’ to define the time required for each. I then define the status for each as ‘Completed‘, ‘Partial‘, or ‘Not Completed‘ and provide further explanation.

Goals

Business

Summary

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.

Highlights

1. ONE-TIME: Make a role description outlining my ideal responsibilities in RMC. Include exceptions (i.e. not-project management, not art).  Completed. See my blog post (N&T) called “Making Mission Statements”.
2. ONE-TIME: Make a mission statement(s) (Think holistically; RMC vs N&T vs Personal).   Completed. See my blog post (N&T) called “Making Mission Statements”.
3. ONE-TIME: Make a list of top technologies/job-qualities I want to look for in a prospective job.  e.g. PushButton, Scrum, etc… Completed. See my blog post (N&T) called “Making Mission Statements”.
4. 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).   Completed. From experience I see that 20 hours per week of work leaves enough time to experience the surrounding city. However, to meet clients’ needs as a single worker, 40 hours per week is more competitive.  I think 3 month projects is ideal for efficiency and attention span and 2 weeks off between projects leaves time to decompress and get away from computers (hiking, etc…). This year I had a longer time between projects which allowed me to travel more rapidly and see more things which was a refreshing change of pace.
5. 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.   Completed. I prepared / updated a list of 15 technical topics and 11 non-technical topics and contacted 20+ cruise lines via email. I would like to teach on-ship in exchange for a free cruise. I read that is possible. TBD on responses from the cruise lines. I also contacted 4-5 online pay-per-view video training companies.
   • Other ways?  Partial: I developed a full concept for a Flash-to-Mobile (Android and iOS) game. I subcontracted for all the artwork. I have not yet complete the game coding.
6. 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. Completed. I contacted several PM’s through my existing network and looking online. I have not yet hired anyone, but will build this into my new-project evaluation process.
7. ONE-TIME: Speak or write (paid or unpaid) on a non-technical issue; travel, LIP, lifestyle design, etc.. Partial: I did not yet speak on these issues, but I prepared / updated a list of 15 technical topics and 11 non-technical topics and contacted 20+ cruise lines via email to propose I speak for them. I would like to teach on-ship in exchange for a free cruise. I read that is possible. TBD on responses from the cruise lines. I also contacted 4-5 online pay-per-view video training companies.
8. 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.

Writing / Presenting

Summary

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.

Highlights

RMC

1. ONE-TIME: Pitch to EDGE to write more content. Possibilities are below. Completed. I contacted two editors (EDGE & Devnet) and pitched new ideas. In 2011, I wrote article 5 of 5 for EDGE, and also wrote a fantastic article for DevNet. Both on games. I would have liked to right more, but within that network there seems to be no more opportunities.
   • 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. Partial: I wrote 9 posts. I did not outsource any. I did not actively seek help from other writers.
3. BONUS: Increase RMC (srivello) twitter followers from X to Y. Partial: While I did not set a numeric goal, my followers increased. As of November 19, 2011 the Twitter Stats are (377 Tweets, 271 Following, 286 Followers, 19 Listed)
4. BONUS: Increase RMC (SITE) monthly traffic from X visits to Y visits. Partial: While I did not set a numeric goal, my monthly RMC traffic increased from 1,182 Total Visits for January Through October 2010 to 1,065 January Through October 2011. So that is -9%. So that is not good. I have analysis on that. Perhaps it is because I direct more people to my RMC blog and not to my RMC site.
5. BONUS: Increase RMC (BLOG) monthly traffic from X visits to Y visits. Partial: While I did not set a numeric goal, my monthly RMC traffic increased from 5,468 Total Visits for January Through October 2010 to 5,908 January Through October 2011. That is a 9% increase. I also changed the permanent location from blog.rivello.org to blog.RivelloMultimediaConsulting.com.

N&T

1. RESEARCH: Explore “Location Independent Professional” as a personal brand/identity. A voice to write from. An audience to write for. Completed. I created article/presentation/class ideas to pitch to potential clients on this subject such as “Planning A Round The World Trip” and “Living Location Independent“.
   • http://locationindependent.com/
   • http://locationindependentprofessionals.com/
   • http://www.freepursuits.com/64-ways-location-independent-people-earn-a-living
   • http://www.ehow.com/how_4618895_be-financially-location-independent.html
2. MONTHLY: Increase N&T twitter followers from X to Y. Partial: While I did not set a numeric goal (For X/Y), my followers increased. As of November 19, 2011 the Twitter Stats are (27 Tweets, 104 Following, 49 Followers, 3 Listed)
3. MONTHLY: Increase N&T monthly traffic from X visits to Y visits.  Partial: While I did not set a numeric goal (For X/Y), my monthly N&T traffic increased from 658 Total Visits for January Through October 2010 to 1,149 January Through October 2011. So that is +74%. Good.
4. ONE-TIME: Pitch a book to a publisher. Not Completed: While I am interested to write a “Travel As A Professional” type book, I did not research writing or pitching the subject.
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. Not Completed: I did not research writing or pitching the subject. It would be ‘cool’ and would help me towards a book, but I’m not very passionate about ‘writing’ yet/ever.
6. BONUS: Pitch teaching topics to new clients. Completed. I prepared / updated a list of 15 technical topics and 11 non-technical topics and contacted 20+ cruise lines via email. I would like to teach on-ship in exchange for a free cruise. I read that is possible. TBD on responses from the cruise lines. I also contacted 4-5 online pay-per-view video training companies.

GFD

In 2010, I created a directory of Flash and Flex developers (GreatFlexDevelopers.com) to promote myself and others to prospective clients. It was a pet project. I learned a bit about outsourcing. The project was completed.

1. MONTHLY: Increase GFD monthly traffic from X visits to Y visits.  Partial: While I did not set a numeric goal, my monthly N&T traffic increased from 293 Total Visits for January Through October 2010 to 1,229 January Through October 2011. So that is +319%. Great.

Promotions & Marketing

Summary

I manage several of my own 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. My personal-cum-professional interests are on NowAndThere.com – a blog about work-life balance and travel.

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.

Highlights

1. ONE-TIME: Add a ‘So What is N&T About’ post on N&T and direct newbies there. Make it simple. Not Completed: I lost interest in the need for this post. I have an existing ‘About N&T’ page that suffices.
2. ONE-TIME: Find PR reps that could help promote RMC. Not Completed: I did not find such a person.
3. ONE-TIME: Migrate location of my blog from (http://www.blog.rivello.org/) to (http://www.RivelloMultimediaConsulting.com/blog/). Completed.
4. ONE-TIME: Redesign and re-theme new blog to match core website (http://www.RivelloMultimediaConsulting.com). Completed.
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. Completed. I updated the portfolio section.
7. MONTHLY: Publish 12 posts (1 per month) to new blog; Completed. I created 9 posts for N&T and 28 (nice!) posts for RMC.
   • 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

Summary

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.

Highlights

1. ONE-TIME: Host 2 family trips. Not Completed: I focused the invitations to Italy in summer 2011 but had no takers.
2. ONE-TIME: Visit family for 1 two-week trip. Completed. I visited my family for December in the USA.
3. ONE-TIME: Host 2 friends. Completed. I had a friend visit for 2 weeks in Peru and visit for 5 weeks in Italy.
4. ONE-TIME: Host 2 CouchSurfers. Not Completed: I met CSr’s in Brasil, Peru, Bolivia, Turkey, but hosted none. I did not have an apartment where guests were freely allowed as in 2011.
5. RESEARCH: [TBD, Goal about socializing more]. Partial: I did not have a well-formed goal nor a way to measure success, but I did very regularly reach out to include other people, meet new people, and generally be more social.
6. BONUS: I treated 8 new friends to a nice dinner in Peru after a 4 day rafting trip.

Financial (Earning)

Summary

My longest engagement was with a great client for 2 contracts over about 6 months. The sales, negotiations, work, and delivery of the project went very well. However between projects I had quite a bit of downtime, some voluntary and some not – looking for projects. Financially speaking, this cost me.

Highlights

1. MONTHLY: Raise the value of my services by 25%  Completed. The high-end of my range of rate raised 25%, and my average income raised by > 15%.
2. MONTHLY: Book at 1/3+ of my contract-jobs as flat rate (more risk, more profit) rather than hourly. Not Completed: I worked 2 flat writing gigs, 1 flat software gig, and all other work was by hour.

Financial (Saving)

Summary

In 2011, I saved for taxes (of course) as well as maximized my retirement savings. I also saved considerably to purchase a home. TBD on that. I have no plans to find a permanent residence this year, but I like the idea of buying a property.

Highlights

1. ONE-TIME: Structure an income budget (see chart) and stick with it. Completed.
2. ONE-TIME: Structure a monthly living budget. TBD. Not Completed: I was more attentive to find monthly accommodations for cheaper prices, but I set not specific budget.
3. RESEARCH: Write a an appraisal and prospectus for 3 types of properties I may buy to fuel further thought; Not Completed: I will add this to 2012 goals.
   • Condo in Buenos Aires (Urban, Spanish, on-site work opportunities)
   • Tropical Latin (Rural, Spanish, Beach)
   • Tropical Asian (Rural/Urban, Beach)

Financial (Giving)

Summary

I’m of the mind that financial gifts creates abundance. I gave more aggressively this year than before. It went well. My venue was to find something reputable online and give online. In the future, I’d like to financially give in other ways too.

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

Highlights

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). Completed. 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 the low 0% (which is the ‘oops I forgot’ traveler’s-standard).
3. QUARTERLY: Increase my Kiva.org lending kitty from $233 to $1000 by year-end.  Completed. Increased to about $1088.
4. QUARTERLY: Donate 5% monthly income to one charity in each country I live in (2+ months). Not Completed: I did not allocate funds for this nor make time to find charities of interest.
5. QUARTERLY: Donate 5% monthly income to core charity. Completed. See #1.

Learning

Summary

I think in 2010 I read more than every before. I maintained (more or less) that pace this year. I long had wished that I could read a book on a whim, instead of viewing it as a chore. I really read for pleasure and encouraged myself to read out of my typical genres as well.

“I am an avid reader.” I could never have said that before this year. I like that.

Beginning the year I had plans to study Portuguese. I had no idea at the time, that I would excel so well, so fast. This was thanks to help from Spanish knowledge, learning-how-to-learn a language better, and the luck of some lovely locals to help me practice.

This confidence and surprising success empowered me to choose yet another language. I started from scratch – studying Italian over my 3 months enjoying Italy. I have a real love for languages and am excited to improve both languages in the future – and maintain my Spanish (still my strongest foreign language), and maybe re-learn French. I purposely shied away from learning ANY Turkish or Arabic as a respite. However I regret not learning 5-50 words out of respect.

I took cooking classes in Peru, Italy, and Turkey. While I always regarded Italy as the epitome of great food, I found that Turkey is more impressive, consistent, and interesting. Perhaps because its much newer to me.

Professionally, I maintained my skills. I chose to focus on the same core technologies I had used before and added mobile game development to my repertoire.

Highlights

1. MONTHLY: Read 12 books by year-end
   • 1 in Spanish. Completed. I read ‘El Metamorfosis’ by Franz Kafka.
   • 1 in Portuguese. Completed. I read ‘O Pequeno Principe’ by Antoine De Saint-Exupery.
   • 2 from New York Times Best Sellers List
     Progress. I read ‘Private’ by James Patterson.
   • 2 from Time.com’s 100 Best Novels
2. ONE-TIME: Present at a conference on Robotlegs by year-end. Not Completed: I did not attend any conferences all year. I chose not to speak online.
3. ONE-TIME: Present at a conference on the PushButton Engine for game development (PBE) by year-end. Not Completed: I did not attend any conferences all year. I chose not to speak online. At year’s end I learned that PBE may be an abandoned project and thus not a good tool to use anymore.
4. ONE-TIME: Complete 30 Portuguese lessons from The Pimsleur Language Program by January 20^th. Partial: (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 18^th.  Completed. 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 18^th. Completed. 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. Completed. As of years end my best languages in order are now English (of course), Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, then French.

Health & Sport

Summary

I had goals for the year about furthering sports and nutrition goals. I feel like I made no strong effort to change/improve my diet or exercise regimen. I continue to be interested in these areas for the future.  I swam regularly in coastal areas. I scuba dove in Turkey and Egypt. I walked/hiked extensively (3-6 hours per day for 5 weeks in Italy for ex.). Overall however, I did not make major changes to my life in this area. I still like the idea to regularly meditate, regularly go to a gym, or regularly run outside for fitness.

Highlights

1. ONE-TIME: Build a weekly diet & exercise routine by February 14^th. Not Completed: I did nothing towards this goal.
   • A Conscious diet
   • Daily workout
   • Weekly activity objectives
2. WEEKLY: Now ‘do’ the Diet & Exercise routine.  Not Completed: I did nothing towards this goal.
3. ONE-TIME: Memorize the common names and photos of the top 50 Caribbean fishes and creatures. Not Completed: I lost interest in learning the fishes. I would still like to do something to increase my enjoyment while snorkeling/diving, but am just not interested in this goal.
4. ONE-TIME: Get IKO certified as a kite-surfer. Not Completed: While In Dahab, Egypt, I found cheaper opportunities to do more kite surfing. I decided to wait until ‘Asia’ where maybe I can find kit-surfing for a price that is cheaper.
5. BONUS: Get AIDA certified as a free diver.  Completed.

Spirituality

Summary

I enjoy learning about meditation, mindfulness,  and life-balance.

I investigated these issues more (mostly through reading and simply ‘living’ life). I had some sessions of Reiki too.

Highlights

1. ONE-TIME: Read 8 Minute Meditation: Quiet Your Mind. Change Your Life. and build a daily routine by February 14. Not Completed: I finished 3 weeks of the program, and then meditated throughout the year without much regularity. I would like to resume this goal in the future.
2. ONGOING: Seek local yoga and meditation classes during travel. Partial: I kept my eye out for these classes, but did not attend many.
3. MONTHLY: Attend 6 yoga classes. Partial: I attended 2 classes (Dahab, Egypt).
4. ONE-TIME: First visit to acupuncturist. . Not Completed: I did not look extensively for a practitioner, but it wasn’t common to see them.
5. ONE-TIME: First visit to reiki practitioner. Completed. While in Bonaire, I mentioned my goal and quickly had a session with a ‘friend of a friend’. In Brasil, I had another session. It is peaceful like meditation, but not as directly enjoyable (during or after) as a physical massage.
6. BONUS: Attend Indigenous-culture spiritual ritual Completed. Attended a retreat in Peru.

Travel

Summary

In 2011 I lived in two in new countries; Peru (2 months) & Italy (3 months), and repeated (3 months) in Brazil. I visited 6 new countries; Peru, Bolivia, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, & Israel. I revisited two other countries; Spain (1 week), & Switzerland (in transit).

I spent most of my time in hostels, and the rest in apartments (perhaps a 70/30 split).  In hostels I socially ate food at restaurants with others, and in my apartments I cooked and ate, often alone.

Highlights

1. QUARTERLY: ‘Live’ (stay 90 days or length of visa) in 6+ new countries. Partial: I stayed 90 days in both Italy and Brazil and saw many other countries for 1-2 months each. In 2012, I’d like to return to Italy and Brazil for a long time (good for language learning) and spend less time (30 days) in a variety of new countries.
2. ONE-TIME: Go to the airport with bags packed and no destination in mind; and fly. Partial: Two times, I chose my next country, bought the ticket, and flew all within 72 hours (Turkey and Egypt). This spontaneity supports my goal here, but doesn’t exactly satisfy it.
3. RESEARCH: Think About Setting Travel-Goals A Bit More… (Come on, this should be EASY for me….)

Life Assessment

Summary

My practice to create an annual preview and review each year helps me to assess my life and what I want to become.

This year, I also read the book ‘The Time Paradox’ by Philip Zimbardo, a study on how personalities and cultures perceive time. Some are faster paced, some concentrate on the past, some live ‘in the moment’. I took a small test included in the book and here is my charted results. Reading the book, and completing the testing/charting I see that consciously-speaking, I’m not influence by the past nearly as much as I am present-minded and future-minded.  The metric/mesurement ‘Transcendental Future’ is related to those who think about ‘fate’ or ‘final religious judgement’ in their decision-making. I rated relatively low in this metric.

Highlights

1. Conversations With God: 1 & 2: I read both books (See ‘Books Read’ above). They are not ‘programs’ per-se, but gave me much to think about – strategies to help review my life, and my goals for the next year. Undoubtedly lessons learned will help me plan for next year and beyond.

Coaching & Support

Summary

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.

Highlights

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. Partial: I had a few sessions (1 or 2) in 2012 with a coach, but then went my own way. I’m fine with that.
2. ONE-TIME: Build a list of characteristics in an ideal mentor and mentoring relationship. Seek a mentor (online?) Not Completed: I did not make time for this. I set it as a goal in 2012.
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. Not Completed: I did not make time for this. I set it as a goal in 2012.

Volunteering

Summary

I would like volunteer more time this year.  I inquired a few times, but the organizations required 1-2 weeks of time, and I was free for only 1-2 days.

Highlights

1. ONE-TIME: Touch base with Adobe Youth Voices Volunteering (AYV) and get a list of opportunities. Completed. I networked through AYV and explored volunteering options.
2. RESEARCH: Find 2+ venues to volunteer and do it! Completed. I found one great opportunity.
3. BONUS: I finalized a deal and signed a contract. I will teach ‘Adobe Flash’ (related to my work) in Spanish (Language Goals!) in a volunteer position (Goal!), in Oaxaca, Mexico (New travel location, yay!), in February 2012.

Fun!

Summary

I wanted to bring a bit more whimsey into my year. I dared myself to do more things for no-reason and enjoyed (almost) every minute of it. I also played TONS of video games for fun and work-research.

Fun stuff I learned;

• ‘Turkey’ in English means a country and also means big feathered bird. ‘Peru’ in Portuguese means a country and also means that SAME big feathered bird.

Highlights

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.  Completed. I played hundreds of free/cheap games for iPad2/iPod Touch. Many were sub-par, but others inspired and entertained for countless hours. I will continue to play more games. Its an easy goal. Ha!

New Goal Categories

In my 2011 Preview, I did not include the following sections. I realized I was missing some things so I added them now.

Creativity

Summary

“You can’t wait for inspiration, you have to go after it with a club.” — Jack London

To cultivate creativity and imagination in my life, I try to make new things and creatively solve puzzles and riddles.  A main creative outlet for me is my work – software development.

Highlights

• BONUS: I created a new website to showcase my artwork (currently just my photography). Its great. http://www.art.rivellomultimediaconsulting.com/

Attitude / World View

Summary

This year was marked with a generally positive nature. I am inspired by patient, compassionate souls. Forever inspired.  My current world view (subject to great change at any time) is as follows.

My Current View: Everything that exists does so because it has been defined that way. I define myself through my assumptions of what’s going on now, my expected outcome of the future, and my (perceived) limitations. Hard work and education (in a general sense) help convince me that I will succeed more, so I do. The universe, without fail, conspires to help me be whatever I truly think that I am now, and help me become what I know that I will become.

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Timeline

I reviewed my progress several times during the year. I began to write this annual review in October from Dahab, Egypt. I finished the review (and set my goals for 2012) before New Years from Philadelphia, USA.

Summary

The written declaration of goals (preview) and look back and reflecting (review) is a life-driving process. It helped me think in a structure way about where I am, what I want, and how to get there. Its a (possibly prohibitively) time consuming process to do it here in this blog, but I will indeed do it again in 2012.

Reflection Questions

What went well this year?

1. Travel – The locations I visited and the pace of travel were ideal. The structure was good too. I planned a few highlights and improvised (heavily) for the second half of the year.
2. Learning - I really did well with languages.  Near the end of the year, I went camping. Some other campers spoke English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and French. I took time to have full conversations in each language (except French). It was an awesome ‘graduation’ of a year spent studying language. Professionally I learned much too. I
3. Fun – I had a lot of fun.
4. Social - I pushed myself to be social in many situations. I am so comfortable to spend time by myself, that that became too easy an option, so I tried to reach out more.

What did not go well this year?

1. Marketing/Promotions – I spent  a considerable time ‘looking’ for work, instead of ‘working’.
2. Budgeting – I earned well and spent little. I tried to self-finance a software project for my first time (still in progress) which was a win/loss. That idea in general is cool. I did not set a monthly budget, but I did well to conserve funds. I could have lived much cheaper, but I could have been more extravagant too. Still I think setting a budget (on a monthly or by-country) level would indeed be a wiser move to raise my awareness of spending habits.
3. Goal Setting – It is INCREDIBLY time consuming to set, follow, and update a big list of goals. I am very happy to have the direction provided by such a list and the opportunity to reflect on a written list and my thoughts on the list is priceless. I want to continue to do an annual preview and annual review for 2012. However there were many goals that I set in early 2011 that I did not try to complete or I tried but did not complete. I’m ‘ok’ with this, but it would help to do a post-mortem on each to see why exactly I didn’t succeed.

What went… ‘huh’?

This year, by choice and by default, I went without work sometimes. At first this was difficult to deal with psychologically – it had been literally years of full-time contract-based employment before-hand. It surprised me how challenging it was to maintain esteem during gaps in work. Then I became more accustomed to the work-hard then play-hard (without work) rhythm.  Divorcing myself front he work=self-worth will be an ongoing goal. So will marketing myself well so I don’t go without work.

1. I have 100k of frequent flyer miles in each of several accounts. I don’t ‘know’ when to use them. I’ll set a goal for 2k12.
2. I found myself paralyzed by liberty at least once. Faced with a limited visa, I needed to leave Italy, and could go anywhere in the world. Its tough to choose. But I’m lucky, its a good problem to have.
3. I’m really excited to live a Location Independent life. In 2012, I will continue to do so, but will also set some goals to plan for possible next steps (living in one place for an extended period of time).

What’s Next?

Good question. I’m laying out my goals for 2k12 and will include a ’5 Year Plan’. Coming soon…

I’m often asked ‘Will you ever settle down (Stop Traveling)?’. I don’t know, but I wanted to think about it. A while ago, I realized that full-time travel is a practical and rewarding lifestyle. I have no plans to settle down at this time, but want to capture some brainstorming here.

Potential Causes To Settle in One Place:

• Become tired of travel – Staying for 2-3 months in a location and keeping an apartment foster stability and reduce headaches. I add this into my current travel regime to offset the chance of getting ‘tired’.
• Buy a house/condo/apt – I’m interested in the investment potential in home-ownership. I don’t really want to ‘have’ a house or ‘live’ in it or ‘fill it’ with ‘things’. I already set goals to save for a home and to explore where in the world I may want to purchase a home.
• Accept a full-time, on-site job – I regularly converse with agencies and companies with high-paying full-time, on-site opportunities. I do not explore these opportunities yet. I will set goals to describe my ideal full-time job so that I can keep my eyes out for it.
• Start a company with on-site employees – I miss working on-site, team-working, and educating staff. Sometimes my engagements offer short stints of this. Building a physical team of green talent, training them, marketing our collective capabilities (software development?) to clients, and creating great projects would be an exciting project for me.
• Date someone with a full-time job (or other some other tie to a particular location) – I enjoy meeting new people and forming new relationships. However this is always within the frame-work of a temporary presence in each place where I live. I will set goals to describe my ideal mate so that I can keep my eyes out when I meet her (or perhaps I already have).

Comments

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.

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Not Completed: XXXXXXXXXX

As part of my 2011 Annual Review I set goals to define a professional mission statement.

Mission statements are “statements of the purpose, typically for a company or organization.” Against this, an organization (or individual) can weigh decisions and face new challenges while maintaining their original focus.

These are useful, as they give a framework against we can compare our goals and decisions.

I completed this post as part of my 2011 Annual Review. In addition to just a professional mission statement, I included some other ‘statements’ as well.

Statements

1. Life Mission Statement

Task:

Make a mission statement(s). Think holistically to include professional as well as personal.

Result: I’ve got 2 (is that allowed?)

• Possible: Only do what is a) an expression of ‘who i am’ or what is b) an announcement of ‘who I will become’.
• Possible: To expose myself to what I ‘don’t know’, to filter that into interests, and set/pursue goals to further those interests.

2. Professional Mission Statement

Task:

Make a mission statement encompassing my professional goals – specifically for my company RMC.

Result:

To deliver core services of software architecture, consulting, development, and training to top interactive companies specializing in Adobe Flash Platform development for games and applications. To champion proven architectures, best practices, and coding standards. Eager to travel. Prioritizing contract-based remote/hybrid engagements English and contract-based remote/on-site engagements in Spanish, Portuguese, & Italian-speaking countries.

3 Professional Role Responsibilities

Task:

Make a role description outlining my ideal responsibilities in RMC. Include exceptions (i.e. not-project management, not art)

Result:

RMC offers architecture, general consulting, development, and training. I enjoy all four services and will continue to offer them. To meet another goal of passive income, I’ll offer a ‘product’ as well (namely internally developing game and monetizing it for mobile) which I may do more of in the future. Typically my engagements step through – search, qualifying a lead, contract/presales, work, delivery. The work, depends on the service offered, but for development there are serveral facets; project management, personnel management (if a small team is assembled), and the actual coding.

4. Ideal Work / Life Balance

Task:

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)

Result:

I surrender myself to what comes in life. If I have back to back great work opportunities, that is great. If I have a few weeks after a work engagement while I find the next opportunity, great.  An ideal would be 9 months of 4 weeks of 40 hours working (1,440 hours) and 12 weeks off of work each year.  The duration of contracts varies greatly (1 to 6 months). To reduce the involuntary downtime between projects, I must begin to job-search 1 month before my current project ends.

I had once decided that 30 hours per week is an ideal balance to contribute to my clients yet still experience the location where I am living. However it seems that clients expect 40 to 50 hours and will be satisfied with 40 hours, so 40 hours is my goal.’

5. Ideal Professional Client & Project

Task:

I am a software development consultant. Here I list the top technologies and job-qualities I want to look for in a prospective job.  e.g. PushButton, Scrum, etc..

Result:

• Teams working in my foreign languages of interest.
• Remote team with good management practices
• Agile, and other project management styles done with conviction and success.
• Mobile development (particularly Flash development which publishes to multiple platforms and/or devices.)
• App Development with Robotlegs framework
• Cutting Edge Flash Player 11+,  such as Stage3D and Starling Framework
• Cutting Edge AIR 3.0+, such as NativeExtensions, in-app purchases, in-app notifications

When I was 9, my dad returned from a business trip in East Africa. Surprisingly he brought back someone. This is ‘Charlotte’, he introduced her, “She will be your new nanny.” For years Charlotte lived with us, as Nanny, and as his secretary and translator for business in Africa. This episode was the first influence I had at learning a foreign language.

French was the first language I studied.

FRENCH

Charlotte spoke 9 languages (or was it 7?). Her English was very good, as was her French. I learned a little French from her and from my dad. He had learned it through business and travel. At age 13, my school offered French. Typically in American high schools, 2 years of foreign language are required before graduation. I took French for 5 years, and then again at University. I did some limited travel to French-Canada, and much later to France and Morocco. In all that time my grip of the language, was good, but not great.

Learning a foreign language in your native country as high-schooler for 45 minutes per day, 5 days a week, is full of challenges. Often we lack the interest to invest in ourselves at a young age. Especially as Americans. Globally we are criticized for ‘never trying to learn another language’ or ‘always relying on English’. The stereotype has a kernel of truth.

The U.S. remains the only industrialized country in the world that has no legally mandated annual leave. In 2010, the average employed American worker took 18 vacation days, but only used 14 of those days, according to a survey by Expedia.com. Many Americans feel pressured (financially or otherwise) to work for some of those days. Many western countries offer mandated leave of 4-5 weeks per year, plus holidays. Also for Americans – travel is relatively uncommon, and international travel is even more rare. The USA is a large and diverse country, offering many types of travel, without leaving the country. For many, that is enough. Also we boarder only a handful of countries, and including the popular destinations in the Caribbean, many are English-speaking. With the language influences, and international world-view I had from an early age, I did better than most in my studies. But I wouldn’t have called myself ‘fluent’ in French, even at the height of my studies.

SPANISH

In the 2000′s I traveled through Europe and Central America. Returning from a trip to Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, I decided to learn Spanish. I knew I’d get more out of travel with a foundation in the language.

I studied at home using the Rosetta Stone language program. I recommend the system. Its very polished and engages the user in reading/writing/speaking/listening without tedious grammar. I devoted 30 minutes per day for 4-6 weeks to complete ’1 year’ of the 3 year program. I hired a tutor for 1 lesson per week, and continued for months. In Los Angeles especially there are countless native speakers who can tutor you for cheap. However I strongly recommend choosing a tutor from an established school as I think they offer a much more comprehensive program.

After soul-searching that led to divesting in my employing company and starting a (more flexible life with a) technology consulting company, I brainstormed some travels. I stared at a map of Latin America. Choosing a language learning destination.

To be ‘near the beach’, I (foolishly) chose Buenos Aires. It is a fantastic city, with much to see and do, and a haven for Spanish-language classes. Its relatively affordable, and I booked 4 weeks of class. Between there and Chile, I completed 6-7 weeks of class in a 10-11 week trip. In less than 2 months of studying, my Spanish was stronger than my French (after 5-7 years of classes) ever was. Studying intensively, studying in a native-Spanish country, and creating the need to speak the language helped me greatly.

In Fall of 2010, my Spanish skills plateaued. I was inspired by Benny The Irish Polyglot and his demonstration video of speaking 8 languages. He has a great blog and an eBook on language learning on his website FluentIn3Months.com. I was excited by a new language but also afraid of ‘losing’ my Spanish. I had already forgotten a good amount of French, but perhaps that was only from lack of use, and not from the introduction of Spanish into my brain.

I had completed about 6 months of class spread over 2 years of Spanish-travel. I was speaking mostly Spanish day-to-day – ‘transactionally’ (eat food, buy stuff, book a hostel, etc…), and socially, but 40-60 hours each week was still in English. I was working remotely, creating software for various companies. Work-time is a substantial opportunity to gain (or lose) skills in a spoken language. I knew I had to accept a job in Spanish or change languages, to maintain interest in learning.

Most Spanish-language job opportunities for a software developer (games and applications for the web) are in Barcelona, Madrid, Miami, and Buenos Aires. Googling around for a while, all appeared to be either full-time or low paying (or both). As a consultant, project-based work allows for the flexibility of location, technology, and networking that helps me thrive. Unless I’d found something perfect, I wasn’t ready for a full-time job. I found nothing perfect, so decided to start a new language. Portuguese.

PORTUGUESE

I’d had 3 months in Brazil (Maceio, Recife, Praia Da Pipa, Rio, & Sao Paolo) in 2010. I went to speak (in English) at a conference, and traveled extensively. I chose not to study the language at that time, because I was concentrating on Spanish. Upon my return in January 2011, I was ready to start.

I had a potential work opportunity in Sao Paulo, so I chose to start in near-by Rio which I knew I loved. I used the Pimsleur MP3 program (20 lessons of 30 mins each) to get started, then enrolled in classes for 6 weeks. Between my knowledge of Spanish and the MP3′s I started at week #4 of the class and continued for 6 more weeks. After my Visa’s 90 days expired, I was fully conversational. My Portuguese after 3 months was about 70% of my Spanish. Spanish took me 2 years. My learning had accelerated.

Next, I went to Cusco Peru for 2 months. I took 4 days of Spanish class (private classes for 30 USD per 4 hour day). This was to re-acclimate me to Spanish. It was less about remembering Spanish, and more about forgetting Portuguese – purging it from my instinctive verbal responses. Both languages occupy the same part of my brain, I think.

Tricks To Learning

There are many tricks to language learning. Much of it depends on your personal learning style. In general you are told ‘do not translate into English’ as you learn. I’m not so sure that’s always appropriate. The most important recommendation to learn languages is to create the need to speak that language. Generally speaking this means to spend time in areas where English is not an option. Simply ‘trying’ to avoid speaking English around a group of English speakers is futile. Spend time with people who know less English than your Spanish. The best common language in a group is usually what everyone will decide to use. Hostels in every country I’ve visited operate in English. This is a blessing (convenient) and a curse (hampers non-English language learning). Tricks like this give me the confidence to continue to learn. I’d love to write more about such ‘tricks’ in the future.

So what language would I learn next? I was already familiar with #2 English (by population), #3 Spanish, #9 French, and #7 Portuguese . Here is an (outdated?) list of the 30 Most Popular Languages.

Rank – Language – Millions of Speakers

1. Mandarin – 1151
2. English – 1000
3. Spanish – 500
4. Hindi – 490
5. Russian – 277Arabic – 255
6. Portuguese – 240
7. Bengali – 215
8. French – 200
9. Malay – 175
10. German – 166
11. Japanese – 132
12. Farsi – 110
13. Urdu – 104
14. Punjabi – 103
15. Wu – 90
16. Vietnamese – 86
17. Javanese – 85
18. Tamil – 78
19. Korean – 78
20. Turkish – 75
21. Telugu – 74
22. Marathi – 72
23. Italian – 62
24. Thai – 60
25. Burmese – 56
26. Cantonese – 55
27. Kannada – 47
28. Gujarati – 46
29. Polish – 46

I decided. I wanted to learn #23 Italian next. I am interested in the country and the culture. The language sounded pretty (or so I thought at the time), and its related to art, design, and food – all things I love. I then completed level 1 of the Pimsleur language learning program (mentioned above) in Italian, but since I know learning on-site is best, I decided I wanted to spend the summer in Italy. I was unsure where to study, but I had ideas on what I would look for in a location and I had I had an idea about what I wanted in an Italian language school. Three months later, in Summer 2011, I arrived to start my classes.

ITALIAN?

What Italian location did I choose? How did I pick my school? Can my brain hold a 5th language? Stay tuned…

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 Book (See all Self-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’.

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.
   • http://locationindependent.com/
     
   • http://locationindependentprofessionals.com/
     
   • http://www.freepursuits.com/64-ways-location-independent-people-earn-a-living
     
   • http://www.ehow.com/how_4618895_be-financially-location-independent.html
     
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
   • 1 in Spanish. Done. I read ‘El Metamorfosis’ by Franz Kafka.
   • 1 in Portuguese. Done. I read ‘O Pequeno Principe’ by Antoine De Saint-Exupery.
   • 2 from New York Times Best Sellers List
     Progress. I read ‘Private’ by James Patterson.
   • 2 from Time.com’s 100 Best Novels
     
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 20^th(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 18^th. 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 18^th. 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 14^th.
   • 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 14^th.
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 40^th 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 15^th. 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.

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 1^st
  • 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 13^th
  • Attend Sister’s Wedding & Visit family
• Panama – September 22^nd
  • 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 8^th
  • Visit a new client in Philadelphia
• Venezuela – November 15^th
  • Margarita Island – An island with a its own pro-baseball team. Go Braves!
  • Canaima – Toured Angel Falls – Natural World Wonder
• Aruba – December 5^th
  • Nitrox Scuba Certification
  • Join a friends family vacation. Fantastic.
  • Kite Surfing Certification
• Curacao – In Transit
• Bonaire – December 23^rd
  • 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.

• Too Fat to Fish
• Living Wabi Sabi: The True Beauty of Your Life
• Eleven Minutes: A Novel (P.S.)
• The Art of Non-Conformity: Set Your Own Rules, Live the Life You Want, and Change the World
• The Time Paradox: The New Psychology of Time That Will Change Your Life
• The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari: A Fable About Fulfilling Your Dreams & Reaching Your Destiny. Read the N&T review.
• Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. Read the N&T review.

Guidebooks

• Lonely Planet Central America (Shoestring)
• Lonely Planet South America: On a Shoestring

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.

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

• by Belle Wong, originally written for MSBookish.com.

Store

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

• by Andrew Collins, originally written for RedFenceProject.com
  

Store

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

• By Corbett Barr, originally written for FreePursuits.com.
• Photo by marfis75

Store

• Download the Free PDF eBook now!