I frankly find it hard to accept that it’s already the end of 2011. It seems like only a blink of an eye ago that the year just started. I think this year is something in which I tried and fail in many things.

I don’t even know where to start at times when it comes to telling how much I have failed this year. I am not being cynical. I rather think that I am being grateful for them. All the events that have happened this year helped paved a better route for me.

Without me realizing, I often spend a lot of time going after things which doesn’t mean much to me. It feels like a waste of time when I look back. The blessing that I have managed to find is a form of inner achievement – the form of achievement where is impossible to measure because it’s personal.

This year made me realized that what I want changes with time. It have paved a better path for me without realizing. Truth be told, I didn’t achieve the many things I set out to do at the beginning of the year. However, I persisted and I know created a different path for myself.

I realized that the career I was on wasn’t something which I wanted. I realized that I wasn’t focused enough. I realized that there are certain habits which I needed to develop (namely, regular exercise and meditation). All these habits have been hard for me to ingrain.

I am not sure what 2012 have for me, but I intend to make it a great year. It shucks that whenever I made such reflection, I realize how fast time flies. I wonder if I’m doing the right thing or if I am being the person I want to be.

It’s hard though, because there are so many influences around me. It seems so easily to just get sucked into the daily tides of life without realizing what I am doing. The next thing I know, I would be this grown up man doing things which I didn’t understood in the first place.

I guess that frightens me more than anything.

I can’t imagine myself being in a place where I didn’t know what I was doing but the years has just pass me by. I imagine if I am forty, married with children and stuffs – but I just didn’t know what I was doing with my life.

This year is filled with so-called ‘failures’ and mis-hits. The blessing was that I knew myself better. I did things that I wanted and failed. It told me how much they meant to me, or in some cases, how much it didn’t meant to me.

I honestly have a good feeling about 2012. I have no idea why but feel that it would be a year where I would be more focused with many areas of my life.

As I slowly become more stable with the working world, I come to a realization that it is the simple things which has the biggest effects on our lives. Like it or not, we may want to do big things but the way to do make things is to focus on the small things.

I have learned that understanding this principle affect the way I go about my life. Simple put, the lessons are such:

(1) Keep things simple. No matter what you are working on, be it on your career progression, studies, or simply following a dream; you have to keep things as simple as you possibly can. In simplicity lies genius. To be able to keep things simple is probably one of the most important skills that I learn.

(2) Learn constantly. Most of us try to learn in one big leap. However, real learning doesn’t happen in such a manner. Learning is about taking small, progressive steps. You never take one big leap in learning. You just take incremental steps, over and over again. If you keep that in mind, you will be amazed by how much you have learnt after a period.

(3) Small steps. Building up on the point above, take small steps. If you want to do something big, start off small. I learn this from the process of writing a book. I decided that I wanted to write a book early this year and chartered the journey. It started from brainstorming topics to simply creating a table of content. It may be as simple as a task of  which only requires one minute. But, if you take that step and build upon that, you will be able to get to somewhere with persistence.

(4) Know what you want. I believe the knowing what you want is even more of a blessing than anything in the world. When you know what you want, you are ready to go for it.

I have reminded myself of this four simple lessons time and time again.

I simplify it to these key words.

(1) Keep things simple.

(2) Learn constantly.

(3) Small steps.

(4) Know what you want.

Simple. Learn. Small. Know.

Perhaps sometimes our persistence becomes our greatest downfall.

I think all of us face one a re-direct one time or another. Holding on too much to what we want to have, do or achieve sometimes seem redundant because we don’t want it. It may seem like we want it, but we really don’t. We just think we do.

Redirects are an important part in my life now. What I thought matter to me a few years (or even months) ago don’t seem to matter to me any more. I am more open to the changes that my path has for me.

Changes to the path we take are natural.

However, I guess the most important thing isn’t whether we change paths. Is whether we are changing for the better or worse. Changes are natural because we change. Change should be out of love, not out of fear. We can change dreams if we feel like a dream doesn’t mean much any more. We can change relationships if we feel like someone doesn’t mean much any more. We can change careers etc.

However, we have to realize the difference between change and quitting. Quitting is important at times. It is important to quit paths which doesn’t make sense to you. Quitting is bad when you know something still means much to you but you are afraid to want it now.

I am diverting and quitting several paths. I never know where I will be. But, I like it that way. I don’t try to control the future that much.