Author: Alan

Concrete Goals Over Sweeping Resolutions

What a year. A lot has happened in the last 12 months, both in my life and around the world. Before I start thinking about the year ahead, I reflected about all the major events…

In my life:

  • For 2 months, I worked for an Internet start-up company, Moving Off Campus. As I collected and organized data, I listened to three full audio books – the final Harry Potter book was amazing.
  • I graduated Washington University with a Bachelor’s degree in International Studies and minors in French and Business.
  • I spent 3.5 weeks traveling with my brother and two friends to Israel, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia. In Serbia, the Crown Prince and Princess hosted us at the Royal Palace.
  • I relocated to Cambridge, MA and started a job with AIRINC, an information services company that designs, provides data for, and supports expatriate compensation packages for global companies. As a surveyor, I travel 4 times a year to collect pricing data and, so far, have had the opportunity to travel to Jamaica, St. Vincent, Grenada, Russia, Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkmenistan.

Around the world:

  • Kosovo declared independence from Serbia, and while the United States, Britain, Germany, France, and several other nations recognize it as a sovereign and independent state, many still do not.
  • Fidel Castro stepped down as Cuba’s leader.
  • In America, the S&P500, an oft-used metric for the stock market, plummeted roughly 40%. Despite the financial turbulence, Barack Obama, once a virtually unknown politician, was elected the country’s 44th president. Tina Fey also did a remarkable impersonation of Sarah Palin.
  • In the Middle East, fighting between Israel and Hamas has continued.
  • Scientists fround frozen water on Mars.
  • Russia elected a new president, Dmitri A. Medvedev, but Vladimir Putin still maintains power as Prime Minister. In August, Russia and Georgia engaged in a serious conflict over South Ossetia, catching the world’s attention.
  • Terrorism surfaced in Mumbai.
  • In Geneva, Switzerland, the Large Hadron Collider was completed. Nine days later, operations were halted due to magnetic issues. No more experiments until summer of 2009.
  • Michael Phelps won 8 Gold Medals at the Beijing Olympics, beating Mark Spitz’s previous record of 7.

And there’s so much more. These were the world events that caught my attention – which ones caught yours?

On January 1st, 2008, one year ago today, I wrote about how making concrete goals is much more beneficial than making broad, sweeping resolutions. Here’s an excerpt:

Instead of “getting in better shape,” why not try to run a mile under 7 minutes or do 20 pull-ups without stopping? Instead of “eating better,” cook a balanced meal at home twice a week. If you want to do something advantageous for your life, there’s probably a way to quantify it. Goals that are well-defined are much easier to tackle psychologically!

This year, following the unconvential advice of Chris Guillebeau, I conducted a basic version of his  Annual Review. On the airplane from Nashville to Boston earlier this week, I thought about all that I had accomplished last year, and what kinds of goals I wanted to make for 2009. Here’s what I came up with:

My mantra in 2009 will be the “Year of Discipline.”
I look forward to a fruitful first year in the real world. I created a healthy list of goals to help trigger that productivity, but only with noticeable level of discipline will I be able to achieve them all. Each quarter (every 3 months), I will review my progress and report my results through this blog.

The goals, in no particular order:

  • Run 5 miles in 35 minutes.
  • Reach conversational level in Spanish.
  • Read and take notes on 3 books from the Personal MBA‘s recommended reading list of 77 books. At this point in my life, I can’t see myself taking out more loans for business school. The Personal MBA will serve as my business school replacement, and over the next few years I hope to create a categorized portfolio of notes from each of the 77 books.
  • Compose a photo-journal coffee table book of my abroad experience in Nepal.
  • Expand my blogging audience to at least 100 RSS subscribers.
  • Clean up my 40 page research paper on vertical farming and send it to Dickson Despommier at Columbia University. I have a business idea to build a vertical farm in Nashville, and I think this is a solid first step.
  • Complete the Hundred Pushups challenge

What goals have you made for 2009? Any suggestions?

Rationally Addicted to Travel

From the Freakonomics blog:

Travel Addicts
By Daniel HamermeshMy wife announced yesterday that she is “traveled out.” I’m not surprised — I am too: Since mid-August we’ve taken trips (mostly long weekends) to Istanbul, Munich, French Switzerland, northeast Italy, Amsterdam, Dublin, London, Barcelona, and, starting tomorrow, Paris plus London again.Her comment illustrates her diminishing marginal utility of travel. Today we’re planning next summer’s vacation, a week starting after a conference I have in Lisbon. I suggested to my wife: “Wouldn’t you rather go to a beach and relax after all the travel we’ve just done?” She said no; she realizes by that time she’ll want to travel around more than she does right now.

She knows how rationally addicted she is to travel. Fortunately it’s an addiction we share — and I bet this is a pretty common kind of joint rational addiction of long-term married couples.

I am also “rationally addicted” to travel. After 33 days in Europe and Asia, I was more than ready to come home, fully aware that after a few weeks of the good ‘ole USA, I would be ready to hit the road again. The grass is always greener?

What about you? Are you rationally addicted to anything?

Ashgabat, Turkmenistan

4 countries, 5 cities, 33 days and 14 flights later, I have triumphantly returned to the good ‘ole U.S. of A., and let me tell you, and it feels damn good. Don’t get me wrong, the trip was fantastic, but the subtle stresses of international travel were beginning to take their toll. I’m happy to be home.

So where were we? I had just wrapped up work in Baku and was anxiously awaiting my arrival in Turkmenistan…

I landed in Turkmenistan just before midnight with a printout of instructions our client had sent me via email. Take the bus to the right, enter a room, check-in, wait for driver, etc. Much to my amazement, the instructions were as accurate as a nerd in a spelling bee. I couldn’t believe it. I waited for an hour or so in the CIP lounge – as a commercially important person – eating fruits and nuts and eavesdropping on fellow English speakers that were discussing the upcoming Turkmenistan Oil and Gas Exposition, an annual three day networking/showcasing event that clogs Ashgabat’s hotels and brings a whirlwind of energy into the city.

Since all the major hotels were full, I stayed at the Margiana Guesthouse near the northern edge of the city. The accommodations was quaint and the food was better than average, yet without a business center or Internet access (hence the delayed post!!!) I was rendered incommunicable. The satellite TV in the room picked up over 800 channels though from all corners of the globe – that takes channel surfing to a whole new level. My brother would have gone bonkers.

First, some information to help set the mood:

  • In 1991, Turkmenistan was one of the last republics to secede from the Soviet Union
  • Saparmurat Niyazov, president until his recent death in 2006, has been criticized as one of the most repressive and totalitarian dictators of his time. He was a wacky dude, engaging in various cult of personality reforms like renaming the calendar months after his family members. He also authored a book, the Ruhnama, which served as the spiritual guide to Turkmenistan. At one point, an exact knowledge of the text was required to apply for a driver’s license. Anyone who read the book three times, Niyazov claimed, was guaranteed access to paradise. The book has been translated into over 40 languages.
  • Turkmenistan holds the world’s 5th largest natural gas resources and also has substantial oil deposits.

The first day, I met with our client to get a sense of what it was like to live as an expatriate in Ashgabat. What a brave dude. We discussed the quality of goods and services in the city and how all communications are monitored. He assured me that my guesthouse was one of the few places that was not bugged with microphones. Uh huh. I met the next morning with his wife, who needed to shop for a wedding present, and she let me tag along while we chatted about expatriate life from the spouse’s point of view.

Ashgabat is gorgeous. Wide, mirror-clean streets that shine at night; beautiful marble facades; mountains in the distance. Behind the impressive asceticism, though, lies a weak infrastructure and a fledgling government, one that makes it difficult for outside investors. Granted, I was only in the country for a few days, so my opinion shouldn’t be taken too seriously, but I really think Turkmenistan has a lot of potential. The country has no enemies and sits on a (for lack of better words) buttload of resources.

I blind-called a contact that the last surveyor from my company had used for translation help and ended up meeting him for a traditional Turkmen dinner. Bayram, at 29-years old, was a pleasure to talk with, and I ended up getting along with him instantly. Throughout my trip, I was introduced to his friends and chaperoned around the city, making for a more personal experience. We checked out the Oil and Gas Exposition, and since Bayram used to work for a major gas company, we scored a bunch of free schwag. I learned how to play Narde, a variation of backgammon, visited Turkmenistan’s many bazaars, and got to see what life in Ashgabat – the city of love – was all about.

After a minor dilemma with hotel payment (long story), I departed for the Ashgabat airport at 3am. My flight plan was Ashgabat>Istanbul>Frankfurt>Boston, but due to some confusion with whether my bag was being checked through or not, I missed my flight in Frankfurt. Luckily they had a later flight to Boston through NYC, and I was even given €10 for lunch by the Lufthansa rep. LUFTHANSA AIRLINES IS FANTASTIC. 32 hours of traveling, and I was back home, snug in my 4th floor apartment bed.

The trip was eye-opening to say the least. I learned a lot about self-motivation and how to better operate as a surveyor.

What a perfect time to come home. There’s nothing more American than Thanksgiving dinner. Yummy. Until I leave again in late January, I’ll be enjoying my time in the states and braving my first Boston winter. Stay tuned.

To Ashgabat!

About an hour and a half left in Tbilisi…I transit through Baku on a 3 hour layover and get into Ashgabat after midnight. Hopefully won’t have any issues at the airport. If I don’t have Internet at the guest house I’m staying in, I’ll be sure to post a quick update from an Internet cafe this week. Home next Saturday!