Josh Sherman
The end of the year is here, and there’s been quite a few things that I’ve wanted to blog about but haven’t had the motivation.
First and foremost, I’m pretty sure this has been one of the best years of my life. At least twicethreefourahem five+ times this year I’ve taken out the trash on some relationships that weren’t ideal and told people exactly how I fucking felt about them. I’m not proud of it, but you need to purge that stuff from time to time or it will eat you alive. I also quit my corporate gig to go back to working at a start up. It’s where I’m meant to be, and the last 3 years working in the health insurance industry had left me a shell of a man. Empty and lifeless, hating my job and starting to hate everything else too. We’re done with that, my marriage is sound, our daughter is absolutely amazing (even though she’s been rocking out on the terrible twos) and we even have a semi-regular babysitter so we can get out and have adult conversations once a week.
“Any New Year’s Resolutions?” Nope, none. There’s some thing’s I’m working on, but the reset of the Gregorian solar calendar isn’t much of a motivator. So instead of resolutions I have retrospective thoughts about the things I’ve learned in 2009. I learned that if you lose passion for your work, you absolutely need to find a new job, IMMEDIATELY. I also learned that it’s okay to fuck up a little bit. Perfection is great, but taking risks and making some mistakes while advancing a product is better, growing pains and all. None of my screw ups have the capability of ending the world, so I think we’re good (yet… muahahahaha). I’ve learned that you shouldn’t lapse on a project or it will probably never get done, but I also learned I can throw a website together in a day if approached correctly. I’ve learned to have confidence in myself again, and to not let know-it-all managers make me feel like shit. But it is nice when those managers finally give out a small bit of praise (mind you it was when I gave my notice ;)). I learned that it’s okay to speak your mind during an exit interview, and I mean really speak it. “Burning bridges” scares a lot of folks, but I gotta be honest, if you never want to work with certain people / organizations again (ever) then what are burning? Just try not to use the F- word too much.
So yeah, 2009 is almost over. Life is great and 2010 will be better (and my last full year in my 20s). Now bring on the crab legs and beer!
