So, what’s in store for 2012? Well, a lot of things. For one, U.S. residents will be witnessing (and hopefully participating in) a run-up to a Presidential election culminating in November. Secondly, on a more personal basis in the days ahead, lots of people will be making their New Year’s Resolutions. And then, subsequently breaking them anywhere from January 10 to February 22 (so the statistics say).
Beyond those two things, however, people have asked me what I think is in store for 2012 and how I determine my starting point and goals for the year. I always believe that before you can look ahead, you need to look back (briefly) for some perspective. This past year, I relocated with my wife from New York City to Chicago. I was fortunate enough to take a few amazing trips and travel to places I really enjoyed, like Barbados and a return trip to Cabo for my anniversary. I published my first book. I got to see family. I got to see lots of friends. We added one new family member to the mix; our dog Dori who now joins her brother Lexington.
It wasn’t all roses, mind you. We, meaning my wife and I, hit some road blocks and personal challenges along the way. Other challenges occurred that we didn’t expect would be as difficult, like transitioning our jobs and some of the stresses that comes along with that. There were other minor challenges, but very clearly I believe that these challenges are blessings in disguise and often act to make us more thankful for what we have today, and gives us greater perspective as we move forward. Challenges make us better if we allow them to.
Basically, I have no idea what exactly is in store for 2012. As I said in a recent post, I don’t like to make predictions about business or business trends or even predict what I’ll tackle this year personally. Making predictions seems so powerless and so reactive anyway. But rather than “predict”, I “road map”.
The best analogy I can use related to what next year holds for all of us is that of a road trip using a good old-fashioned road map (no GPS, in this example). Let’s say you’re driving from Chicago to Minneapolis and you have your old-fashioned paper road map out and have the trip planned to the best of your ability. You start the trip, and come across a road that is closed. You detour. A few hours later, you hit traffic backed up for miles. You detour again. As you get closer to Minneapolis, you overhear news at a rest stop that there is major construction happening on the highway ahead that would have led you to the destination. You detour once more.
The point is that you still make it to Minneapolis. But there are unexpected twists, turns and detours along the way. It is how you handle the detours that ultimately determine your state of mind when you get to Minneapolis. You’ll still get there one way or the other. But it is the choice you make in how to handle the detours that matters, or even whether you embrace the detours at all.
And more importantly, perhaps, while on a detour you may even find a faster route to Minneapolis that you wouldn’t have found if you hadn’t decided to take the detour in the first place. Sometimes detours don’t have to be bad.
While I can’t predict the future unfortunately, and won’t make predictions on the state of the economy or what’s happening in online marketing, or who will win the Presidential election, I can say that I hope you all have your road map for 2012 out. Expect road closures and construction. But keep an open mind – and perhaps embrace a detour or two – and then keep driving.
Happy holidays and a healthy and prosperous New Year to all of you who are readers of this tiny, little blog. Back in 2012.
