What a year 2021 was!

Full of happiness, struggles, Ups, Downs, and so much more. Here are some of mine:

Working on a healthier me:

While progress was small, Joey Shillolo has introduced me to some great strategies to get better sleep using Brain Dumps in the evening which I log in Microsoft ToDo as a task each night under a list titled “Brain Dumps”. This allows me to clear my head.

While not using them as regularly as I should, the bands and exercises Joe prescribed to me are super helpful especially now that I work at home.

2022 will bring further work on my struggle with weight, something I’m excited to work on starting with the 30 day ‘Metabolism Reset Diet”, written by Dr.Alan Christianson.

Musical Opportunities:

Providing live stream and on-demand programing for ~22,000 students and staff from Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada and Yamaha Canada was a highlight during a time when so many other musical opportunities were put on hold or faded. The work was tremendous, but the payoff was priceless.

I look forward to what 2022 brings for @MusiciansHelping and a return to more regular live performances.

A change in career, but not in values:

I am looking forward to quantifiably and qualifiable expand on my core value of being a channel of information, earning the right to be a trusted advisor, and having conversations that lead to real life impacts. I am so fortunate to be working at Softchoice, a company that lives to its values.

For 2022, I look forward to learning about businesses and their needs, seeing how I can build trust and help drive success.

Some quotes I’ll take with me from conversations I’ve had with awesome Softchoice people:

“The most relevant question you can ask is “what’s the cost of doing nothing “”

“The product doesn’t matter, what excited me is the process of having conversations and how this leads to real-life results that impact the community in a positive way”

“welcome again to Softchoice and to Telesales! You are in the right place.”

“Be a human being talking to human beings, a trusted advisor”

A shift on defining the word “Family” for me

I have gone through a process of trying to reconcile differences with my mother and step-father. Unfortunately, the reconciliation process meant that I haven’t spoken with either of them since June of 2021. It made me think about what the word “family” truly means. While there is a lot of social messaging suggesting that relationships with family should always be kept up, I have found it healthy to define the relationships based on my terms, perhaps shutting the door but never locking it.

I have looked at my wife and son who are the best family I could have. Family is not defined by blood, it is defined by the mutual effort to grow a relationship with another human being.

For 2022, I truly hope that the struggle between me and my mother can be resolved so we can open that door again, but if it can’t I am so fortunate for my wife, son, and those friends that have built a relationship with me that can only be defined as “family”.

Some awesome quotes I gathered from 2021:

"The last 10% it takes to launch something takes as much energy

as the first 90%." - Rob Kalin (Founder of Etsy)

"Wonder what your customer really wants? Ask. Don't tell."- Lisa Stone

"Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much."- Helen Keller

"Much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on."- Steve Jobs (Founder of Apple)

"It's not about having the right opportunities. It's about handling the opportunities right."- Mark Hunter

"Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of learning."- Bill Gates

"Stop selling. Start helping."- Zig Ziglar

"Anything that is measured and watched, improves."- Bob Parsons