10 Things to Look Forward to in 2010

Resolutions for the new year – have you kept yours as yet? More importantly, how many have you broken already?

I’m not sure what resolutions are meant to be. For me, resolutions are things to look forward in the year to; I don’t believe in working hard to achieve them, they have to be something which occur as part of my natural routine of life.

I have great expectations from 2010. 2008 and 2009 were horrible and decent years respectively, but this is what I am looking forward to in 2010:

1. Getting Married – For the longest time in my existence, I have thought of myself as someone who is slightly held back when it comes to being in the relationship. Then I met my fiancee, and she brings out my quirks, behaviors and mannerisms which generally stay shut away somewhere. Together, we can switch between multiple mental ages to deal with the challenges of life – that is what makes me love her even more, and I cannot wait to begin our life together in 2010.
2. Growing up – In 2010, I hope to ascend to a higher level of maturity; working hard on our marriage, managing our home, and pushing hard and upwards in my career – these will no doubt help me think about things from a more mature perspective; let’s hope that maturity does begin to kick in too.
3. Being part of the 8 Day Academy – This is something which I really am looking forward to. Find out more about the 8 Day Academy [here] and [here]. I am a huge advocate of education, and 2010 is earmarked as the year where more should be done to educate women. Education doesn’t translate to reading a book and passing exams; education is about having the ability to use any and every skill you have to move ahead and achieve in life. The 8DA aims to achieve this and raise awareness in communities that you don’t have to be book smart to be someone.
4. Stepping up a level or two in my career – Four and a half years as a professional, I am closing in towards the end of the 5 year plan. The time has come to start a new chapter, and progress up the ladder; I haven’t had a niche path in my career to date, but a solid career is built up on a particular specialization and add-ons are always a bonus around it – this is the plan for the next 5 years.
5. Traveling to new places – I haven’t had many opportunities to travel to new places, partly because I enjoy company when I travel. Starting this year, I will have that permanent companion with whom we can “see the world”!
6. Reading more books – One thing is absolutely certain – we are going to have a massive bookshelf at home – the both of us are readers and collectors of good books and publications. One aim this year is to read more than the 10 or so books which I read last year.
7. Achieving new qualifications – I love to study in bursts; being a huge believer in keeping life moving and refreshing your career, I really think constant education plays a huge part in shaping ones career. In 2010, I will be working on gaining 2 PRINCE2 certification.
8. Attending TEDx or even the TED global event – I have attended one TEDx event [TEDx London] and watched a huge number of [TED talks]. These are inspirational messages and words from people who are unique revolutionaries. In 2010, I will be looking to meet these speakers and swap ideas in person. The TED and TEDx  events are massive networking opportunities and provide an avenue to gain inspiration and insight to the rest of the world.
9. Meeting new people from twitter – I met almost 30 people, from twitter, in person in 2009; most of them were excellent personalities, and some outright strange and weird. The fact that I am typing this post is an assurance that I havent met a serial murderer tweeter so far. I loved the tweetup in Dubai, and it was great to put names and faces together, and also swap contact details with a couple of people.
10. Being happy – The biggest and most important thing which I want from 2010 is to be happy. The last 3 years have progressively worn out my happiness, and I have met and hope to spend my life with a person with whom I know I can be happy. Happiness will be achieved by keeping things simple, and staying humble; I trully believe that it is as simple as that.

What things are you looking forward to in 2010?

Tagged as: Add new tag, Dubai, London, Online Communities, Social network, TED, TEDx, Twitter