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1st few weeks of 2012 New Year ...

2012 started out of the gate in a new company, a new restaurant, and with old wounds that followed to make the first weeks rather challenging. I learned that I expect order in my life, but sometimes I don't allow others to have the same order in their lives, as how I behave toward them. It's one of the hardest thing to realize when I am not what I think I am to others.  So it's been really an opportunity to realize more individual changes that need to be made.  The results, though, might take a little more time to happen.  I know it will all work out in the end. It's just reaching the end and how I get there will determine how the story will play out that way. 

Some other obstacles happened which I just made time to complete as individual projects.

I lost all my information from my Evernote files on my laptop.  Fortunately, it was uploaded to the Evernote server.  The downside is that it took me two complete days for all the information to download back into my computer.

This weekend as I am off from work, I have been trying to put all my loose papers as digital files so that I can clean up all the mounts of paper all over the place.  It's even frustrating my Sunshine with all the mess I am making.  I think that I got a little more organized since all corporations are expecting more from their leaders now.
  
Let me say that being a leader in the present day work environment isn't what it used to be in the past. I wonder as a leader of a company, now, we will ever get the straight forward work ethic of the generation of the past.  It's because of all the entitlement mentality. There is no reward or benefit of working hard.  I really wish that our political leaders would work on this.  If this keeps up, who knows, I might want to get a piece of the entitlement action!  I'm just saying ...

I needed to get more organized, too, because I just signed up at a fitness place.  I am hoping that I'll be able to get a good 30-minute workout each session for three sessions a week.  I think that it will mostly be after work.  It's a good thing that the place is open 24-7.

In over two weeks, my Sunshine and I will be celebrating what actually officially starts tomorrow, Chinese New Year, the Year of the Dragon.  We will be in San Francisco for the Chinatown parade.  I will keep you posted on the events as we are there.

Finally, the top 7 personal stories of 2011 ...

A little late, but today is the day that I finally announce my top 7 personal stories of 2011.  Turning the year, 2011 ended and 2012 began with me at work.  I didn’t mind because I had Christmas Eve 2011 off.  Then, there were hopes as I began the 2012 New Year!  But then there is more and more expected from leaders these days.  So that is where the challenges are for me in the coming months.  Last year, once again, there were some surprises that I didn't expect, but other things that I hoped for the changes to happen.

The # <7> personal story of 2011 …
Tornadoes scoot by locally in April; no electricity for a couple of days. It was one of the first times I was without electricity for over a day. Let me tell you, it was a period of time without electricity that I will not forget!

The # <6> personal story of 2011 …
Leaving the CB. There were months of uncertainty and the unknown of where I stood with the senior leadership. Most of the issues I would admit were solely my responsibility. I know as always, I committed the best I could offer. As much I like the fact that I resigned from the CB, I will miss the hard working team members I left behind. The good thing is that I can now stay in touch with their lives on Facebook. I learned that it's about the people, supporting what is best within them that anyone has to nurture and encourage. There is no doubt that helping someone be the best that they can be is more important than anything else.

The # <5> personal story of 2011 …
Multiple visits to Orlando, FL. First, it was a trip for my continued training for my present leadership position. The second opportunity was a four-day visit to the area with my Sunshine to visit Walt DisneyWorld and the Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure. We ended up riding theHarry Potter and the Forbidden Journey™ ride. So, after two visits to the park, I can say that I got the full experience of the park from the Dragon Challenge™ last year to the Harry Potter and the Forbidden Jourrney™ ride this past year. We even got to listen to the majority of a concert by Manhattan Steamroller at Universal Studio!

The # <4> personal story of 2011 …
Moving on from the CB.  I learned a lot from my three plus years working at Cracker Barrel, the old country store. I have no doubt that it has helped to assist me in everything that I am committed to do as I focused on succeeding in my role being employed at one of the top Fortune 350 companies in the USA! I am looking forward to the possibilities. I have options to transfer moving up to mostly any state in the nation. I know I can't beat that!

The # <3> personal story of 2011 …
Visiting the Islands; Sunshine's second time around. The first trip was in 2008. This trip in August turned out to be another interesting visit. I am disappointed that I didn't get to visit with several friends who I tried to meet up with; however, because I couldn't get a hold of them, or because of scheduling, I didn't get a chance to see them. I thank my wife because she allowed me to eat all the Hawaiian food--poke, lomi salmon, lau lau, and poi--I wanted. And, boy, did I fill up! It might have to last me at least a couple of years!

The # <2> personal story of 2011 …
Discovering Evernote. ... Where was this program when I needed it years ago? Of course, the Internet wasn't in existence back then.  This software allows me to type something into my smartphone, and it automatically updates into my laptop with an Internet connection! Awesome! I keep a lot of my notes in this program. It even keeps attachments of .pdf files right where I need it with the heading of the notes. The cool thing is that I can do a search for a particular thing and it will even search within the .pdf file.  I think it’ll be interesting to see all the different places on the map where I have visited all these years.

And the # <1> personal story of 2011 …
Introspection ... Constantly taking that inside-out look of my personality and character. I finally realize how it feels when I believe I am responsible for everything that happens, and constantly I am asked to take that inside-out look. I realize that it's the new leadership mode of committed to working.  I have no doubt that this will be the start of the process.  It’s all about realizing how my actions/inactions affect others, to make the changes needed to leave others’ lives better than when I first met them.