2010 - A Retrospect

Its always interesting when a year ends. Newspapers run 'the year gone by', TV channels have experts come on board to talk and disect the high points and the low points of the year and all of us start talking about resolutions and a new start. SMS and email messages talk about how the coming year should be a good one for us.

But do we look back and the year? I tried doing that last year and so lets continue the tradition while at the same time look at how I fared at my resolutions? :)

2010 was a good year. Most of the 'upheavels' of 2009 had settled down and the talk was of consolidation.

At work we had a new leader who joined us and we were all evaluating to see how he would be. He turned out to be a great people's person and we had quite a few firsts in the organisation. A young guy, he's a focussed person and loves being loved by all. Very high on EQ and a good sales leader as well. And his leadership was good for the country as well.

My challenge was to ensure that the 3 month trail period of me handling marketing another region was not a flash-in-the-pan and that I could sustain my skills for the whole year. I like to beleive that I did. I had not issues or complaints from the team or my manager. What it did do for me was increase my travel to a very large extent. That meant that I had to be away from my family for a few days every month and it was not a good thing. The support of my family counted a lot for that. Professionally I went through patches of highs and lows - loving my job and wanting to leave it. Some things worked to keep me going while there were some roadblocks but thats a different post altogether. My boss believed that I had to align to the team's vision and I guess I had to work at that.

On a personal front my family and friendships kept me grounded. My constant Singapore visits were made great by Arvind's presence and dinners with him. Some great advice from him made me change some of my investment decisions and some good discussions resulted in him changing his thoughts. The GMC meetings were on for the year and we have some grand plans for 2011. My kids did well in school and so did my wife at work. Parents health was good and sister had a good change in her job - something that she wanted. Life was good! (Touchwood). We invested in a new house and Tarush finally got admission into the same school as Ipsi for next year.

The biggest event on a personal front was Sowmya's accident and the events thereafter. I Thank God everyday for keeping her safe and making the things happen in good stead post the accident - presence of a good samaritan, the doc at the hospital not putting the stiches on the head, her admission into Manipal and a plastic surgeon doing a great job at the stiches and keeping her safe. My biggest regret was that I was not there by my friend in her time of need. But she is safe and well and that's what counts. Thank you God!

So lets re-look at the resolutions and see where I stand:

• Continue to exercise and remain fit. Do not gain weight :( NOT MET. I gained some weight but did try to keep my exercise regimen going.
  
• Be more patient and keep an open mind. :) MET. I definitely was more patient and absorbed quite a few ideas.
  
• Be a good friend - supportive, non-intrusive, helpful when needed. :) MET. I would like to believe that I was.
  
• Be a good father - helping, inculcating values by practice rather than preaching, giving proper direction, expanding their minds with experience rather than rote, not being too assertive, listening. :| Can't Comment but I think I would get 7/10 for this in 2010.
  
• Be a good husband - listening, loving, supportive, participating and patient. :) I think I can safely say Met for this.
  
• Be a good son and brother. :) I guess its a MET for this?
  
• Get better at my job or Get a better job. :| Quite difficult to comment on this. I got a bit better but definitely did not get a better job!
  
• Read more books and catch up on new ideas. :) MET. Any my blog is a testament to it. More blogs there than here.
  
• Try to do a good executive management program. Get more relevant education. :( NOT MET. This is a definite gap that I need to fill.
  
• Keep blogging. :( NOT MET. I definitely need to get better at blogging here.
  
• Get a tattoo. :) MET. And it was great. Maybe get one more in 2011?
  
• Learn to play Golf. Get coaching. :( NOT MET. Must try again in 2011!
  
• Have more holidays. :( NOT MET again. Should try more.
  
• Don't take life too seriously. Have fun! :) MET. I think I did!

So a scorecard of 7/14 for MET, 5/14 NOT MET & 2/14 not known! Not bad eh?

Let's see what 2011 has in store!