2007 was the first year of How to be an Original. Also the first year for me as a blogger. It’s been a great year and I learned a lot!

I learned a lot about blogging. In the first two months already, I learned that I wanted to switch from a hosted site (Typepad) to a self-hosted site on Wordpress. But I learned a lot about social media and internet marketing as well. I learned about the dynamics of the blogosphere and the people in it and what a nice bunch of people they are!

On a technical level, I learned a lot too. I learned html, php, css to build my theme. I learned how to manage and upgrade Wordpress and the plugins. I learned how to change DNS-records to redirect certain addresses to other sites or services (like Feedburner).

And last, but not least, I learned a lot about goal setting and personal development. I have also learned Neuro Linguistic Programming and how to use language and specific questions to solve problems and find resources within. I have learned about living my own legend and what it is that makes me happy and passionate. And most of all, I learned how writing about it accelerates the learning process.

And I would also like to thank you! I’m thrilled that there are so many readers, over 500 already and the number is growing. I love your feedback and I’m very happy with the new people I have met through blogging and through you.

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On Sundays I’m looking back on the past week. How did I perform towards my goals? How did my blog do? And how am I keeping up with my Getting Things Done system and Zen to Done habits?

Blog performance

Some nice performance last week. There was only one new post, but the stats are up nevertheless. The Christmas days have been the slowest I have seen in a long time! But the days after that have brought me some nice traffic. The most popular articles of the last week were:

• How to remember people’s names instantly 
  Forgot someone’s name at Christmas Dinner? Need to do better at the new year receptions? This is where you find the tips.
• The benefits of a clean desk and a tidy office
  I guess people are cleaning up for the old year.
• New Year’s Resolutions Link-O-Rama
  And making new resolutions for the new one.

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Shane of Shane and Peter posted an interview on their blog. Well, they posted the questions and asked entrepreneurs to answer them. I’m about to start as an entrepreneur, so I’m taking up the challenge. Below you’ll find the interview, starting with Shane’s original questions, and followed by the questions that others came up with (they had to, except for Naomi she seems proclaimed herself to be exempt…of course).

So here’s the interview: 

What’s your personal mission statement?
I’ve written about that before. It’s based on my five core personal values: Love, Fun, Authenticity, Freedom and Growth. My mission statement is:

I, Lodewijk van den Broek, love life and have a lot of love to give. I enjoy authentic growth and I help others to grow. I’m here to have lots of fun and enjoy my freedom in comfort and vitality.  

What’s the biggest mess you’ve dealt with this year?
My backlogs at home! My 3 year archiving backlog being the biggest. Man, the time I spent sorting through papers, making files and folders. But now I’m (almost) done, I’m loving the results!

What current entrepreneurial efforts consume your time?
Preparing to start a business in training and coaching. And blogging of course…that’s a major personal branding activity. And as a trainer, coach or public speaker you need a good personal brand.

Why do you do what you do? 

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On Sundays I’m looking back on the past week. How did I perform towards my goals? How did my blog do? And how am I keeping up with my Getting Things Done system and Zen to Done habits?

Blog performance

Yet another week without a lot of posts. I’m slowly getting back in the blogging routine, but it didn’t show last week. My day job demanded a lot of attention, because it was the last week of the year and there’s a lot of work to do in those weeks. 

There’s yet another rise in subscribers. Welcome to all of you! I’m not really closing in on my goal of 2500 but I love that you joined the growing group of Originals. I have been working on some activities to get more subscribers, but they are most likely not going to take place this year anymore. The deadline will probably pass without having the goal accomplished, but I’ll leave the 2500 mark up there and see how fast I can get there.

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Last weekend I have accomplished one of my big goals. Since last Sunday I am a certified Practitioner in Neuro Linguistic Programming. Or to quote the certificate:

Lodewijk van den Broek has successfully completed the course of training in Neuro-Linguistic Programming and has demonstrated competence in the presuppositions, skills and techniques of Neuro-Linguistic Programming at the level of NLP Practitioner.

Cool huh? I think so! However this article is not about me becoming certified, but about celebrating when you achieve a goal. And taking this as an example is a way to celebrate for me

Goal accomplished?

Accomplishing goals is one of the most gratifying experiences in the goal setting process. It is what all activities and all energy are focused upon: getting the desired result. After all this time working on this goal, alone or in a team, and after overcoming all kinds of unexpected obstacles it has at last produced result. Success!

But…what to do now?

All of a sudden there’s this gaping void of a missing purpose, a loss of direction. This is a natural response, and a lot of people start by setting new goals again. For them the void is so dominant and is perceived as a loss, rather than a gain. So they react by filling the void with new goals.

This is a reaction by adrenaline junkies who have become addicted to the path. It’s like climbing a mountain only to run down again after touching the summit, because the next mountain needs to be climbed.

They have lost their appreciation of a goal accomplished, of the victory of achieving the end-result. It’s great to enjoy the path, but goal setting is about the path and the end-result.

So celebrate the result!

So what do you do when you reached your desired end-result? You celebrate! You won! Go dance your victory dance, sing your song of victory, send out a press release, scream from the top of your lungs, tell everybody around you, buy yourself a gift, have a piece of chocolate cake, take a glass of 18-year old whiskey, get a massage, throw a party…get it?

Achieving success is something to celebrate! The gaping void is not a void; it’s a space to celebrate and to contemplate. But first of all to celebrate!

You just climbed a mountain, now sit down on the summit and enjoy the view. Be proud of being there; look back on the path towards the summit; laugh with the people that climbed with you about the mistakes you made and how you overcame them; thank them for their support along the way.

Be proud!

Celebration is to release the energy that built up along the way, commonly known as stress or strain. Celebrating provides an outlet for that energy and it clears the mind. You will find that the void isn’t a void anymore after the celebration. It’s an open space that you can fill creatively again.

And while enjoying the success and the celebration, small fragments of new goals start to appear. New ideas start to pop up in your mind, not because you need the rush of the path, but because there’s room to create new goals.

Now take the time to realign to your life goals or company goals if you’re in a corporate environment. Make a conscious decision on what you want to achieve next.

I’m not there yet…still celebrating a goal accomplished