2011
At the start of the year I decided that 2011 will be a different year for me, let me explain.
Last year I pulled out all stops to achieve a few things left on the to do list. I picked last year as it marked a decade since Betfair started and I joined up. There were only a couple of long term things left that I wanted to do and, despite a poor January and December, I managed to achieve them. But that left me wondering ‘What next?’
For me, one of the key things about doing anything is the challenge. When I worked for others in the past, I always needed to be busy and working on a grander plan. When I couldn’t, I got bored and frustrated. As a consequence I never settled in any role for too long as I kept on wanting to do new things. I have a keen desire not to never reach the place where I will be bored and frustrated again!
In my time on Betfair I’ve knocked down many hurdles and my understanding of the market has reached new heights on each discovery. However, I’ve spent a lot of time in getting a deeper understanding and tinkering with the edges of things and not enough on completely new things recently. The prospect of another year doing the exactly the same thing doesn’t fill me with excitement. Reaching new personal heights will require longer time scales now and more work, so this year I will take a lot of time out to work in new areas, not just on Betfair. I’ve worked out I can achieve a 40% reduction in workload on Betfair with only a 20% reduction in value, so that will allow me the space I need. It will also allow me more time off which is valuable. Of course, you can’t accept a reduction and still achieve a prior years total. So I am looking to make progress in a number of areas this year that will push me forward and reward me in future years, but I am not looking to exceed last year stellar performance.
This is also about the true longer term future. Where do I want to be in ten years time? The kids will be older and probably in need of more help. Can I imagine myself still being on Betfair for twenty years? What personal things do I want to achieve before I am too old? If I want to achieve greater things, then I need to start working towards them now and laying foundations, planning and moving towards those goals. Repeating a prior year is not an option. It’s worth taking stock of that and allocating time to that problem. I’ll update you on how I have done at the end of the year!
So that’s what I aim to achieve in 2011. I’m looking forward to it, it’s going to be different!
Category: General
