January... derived from Janus... the greek god with two faces... one to look back and the other to look forward. And yet we call this a Christian calendar!

And so it's that time, to reflect on what happened last year and look into the future... and try our best to figure out what it holds. I try whenever possible to fill my journal. They reveal a lot about me to myself and how I see things, and how things evolved.

I entered the year with a lot of hope, I made a promise (which I later failed to keep). I had so much hope that the year would be better... I really hoped that the last year would be a story of exponential growth, focus, strategy and perseverance. Instead, it was mixed. I've listed below what I feel was significant or an important event or step that took place.

January: Stopped Blogging (instead later in Sept started lifestreaming on Posterous!)

February: Scanned ALL my business cards (part of decluttering).

March: Lectured at BIBF. Thanks to Biju.

March: Got a bonus for last years effort.

April: Subscribed for Audible (Audiobooks)

April: Loss of faith.

April: Joined Health Club (went for one month only)

April: Finished putting aside 12 month expenses for an Emergency Fund.

May: Started AVCION Capital by putting together an investment strategy, focused on cleaning up our personal investments and also our decided to take control of the mess. 

June: Started a membership section at jpmartin.com with Amember (failed). Purchased WLMember instead for AVCION.

July: My boss left the bank.

July: Revamped MariasMenu.com (more features, viral, hits increased)

August: Decided to have a renegade career.

August: Asset allocation for Zurich, focused on commodities and gold. (Price of Gold went up, so good!)

August: Thought about the idea to start deal sourcing (finder’s fee) as side business in addition to AVCION Capital. Tried Highrise to organize deal information and contacts. Used Google instead. (Failed after one month). 

September: I wrote the CAIA exam: (failed).

October: We visited India and blessed the new flat.

November: Changed AVCION Capital to AVCION Partners (included Deal Sourcing / Origination, started using Highrise)

November: Revamped DrPaulose.com (more hits, more enquiries, online consultation)

December: Revamped JPMARTIN.com (professional designer, branding, started using Evernote)

December: Visited Bangkok, Thailand for a one week vacation.

December: Opened Home Made Wine - JPMARTIN Label ;)

December: Hosted a Christmas Party (celebrating the birthday of Christ with the tithe)

Here are some of the things I actually set out to do:

Exercise regularly: Mixed. A couple of months of regular walking/jogging with my friend Ephraim. Nike Plus says I ran... 130 km since March!

Efficiency: (Doing Less and Less): Mixed. Still did quite alot of things. Have more on my plate than I can probably handle.

Declutter: Mixed. Managed this to a certain extent.

Automate: Success. I did manage to achieve this, alot of my banking transactions are now automated or require me to hardly visit the branch.

Love and Laughter: Success. Although its hard to unhook urself from the grid. I did, or I was forced to. But the breaks in between allowed me to enjoy time with Maria.

Spent: Italian Shoes, Airport Express, iPod Touch, PSP, LCD, PS3, Seagate 500 XHDD, BlackBerry Bold 9700 (I'm a gadget freak).

Read: Your Money or Your life (Completed), Purpose Driven Life (Audiobook, Completed) Outlier (Completed), Small is the New Big (Completed), Turtle Trader (Completed), Year of Living Biblically (Audiobook, Completed), Your Best Life Now (Audiobook, Completed), Tribes (Audiobook, Completed), The First Billion is the Hardest (Audiobook, Partly), Tipping Point (Audiobook, Partly), Blink (Audiobook, Partly), Founders At Work (Partly), Reading People (Partly), The Paradox of Choice (Partly)

Looking at the above, before I even thought about writing this - I thought that the last year went by really fast, as if were just yesterday, and yet I wondered what it was that I did during those 365 days! The above pretty much explains it all...

So what resolution have I taken for 2010? Only one - No Films: No Cinema. No DVD. (this year will be just as interesting!, I hope to use the free time to read more). If you know me personally, you're probably aware of the fact that I watch A LOT of films! Besides that, I'll probably revisit some of the goals I had earlier to see what I can do better.

You may be wondering, why I had the guts to open up a preview of my journal. Well, it makes me vulnerable... and that sets me free! I challenge you to open up to your readers, through your blog or emailing list!

Wishing you the best for 2010!