Do or Do Not. There is no Try.

Note: This article was published while I was in my early 20s. I was much younger and dumber. Please don't hold it against me. One of the perils of having a 20+ year old website!

That is one of my favorite quotes (and not just because it’s in Star Wars, or Yoda said it). It has a lot of meaning to me. And this quote, I suppose, is the theme of my Year in Review post. In the past I’ve said, “This is a benchmark year, blah blah blah,” and then listed things of note that happened to me that year. 2007 was particularly good. But 2008 I feel, was a year of almosts.

I almost signed that big client or launched that project. I almost got an A, I almost met that goal, I almost said what I really wanted to say. This really goes against the quote that is the thesis of this post, and one I’ve been trying to live by since high school. To me, almost is trying and failing. So for 2009, I’m going to do or do not. I’ve set a business plan for my business and it will be a good year. I just need to follow through instead of just thinking about it or saying I’m too busy. I’ve also set some personal goals for myself, which I will also follow through with.

So I guess the quote is also my New Year’s resolution. Here’s to 2009. I want to leave you with another 2008 Year in Review post I just read over at SimpleBits. It’s very pithy, to the point, and also holds true for me.

Similar Posts

  • My Free, Private Podcast: Joe’s Audio Notes

    I’m not sure I’ve written about it explicitly here, but a few months ago I launched a free private podcast called Joe’s Audio Notes. The episodes are very short (7 minutes or less), where I share my thoughts on being a solopreneur, a podcaster, a parent, and other thoughts related to being a productive member…

  • |

    A Clockwork Orange…no rating…

    Note: This article was published while I was in my early 20s. I was much younger and dumber. Please don’t hold it against me. One of the perils of having a 20+ year old website!There are only so many movies that will seriously make you reflect on your life, and then the movie, on what…

  • | |

    Manifest Development Redesign 2011: Custom Widgets

    Note: This article was published while I was in my early 20s. I was much younger and dumber. Please don’t hold it against me. One of the perils of having a 20+ year old website!In Parts 1 and 2, I talked about the two most important parts of the site- the homepage and portfolio. Today…

  • Happy Anniversary, How I Built It!

    One year ago today, I launched Episode 1 of How I Built It, the podcast I started to learn from other business owners. I announced it by telling the story of Il Duomo, which I had seen in person 2 months prior. That’s still a great story that gets at the heart of what I’m trying…

  • X3: The Last Stand

    Note: This article was published while I was in my early 20s. I was much younger and dumber. Please don’t hold it against me. One of the perils of having a 20+ year old website! During 24 tonight, they premired the X-Men 3 Movie trailer (I wasn’t watching 24, as I’m not caught up, but…

  • Serve Your Customers to Help Yourself

    I’m a big fan of automations. Generally, they are “set it and forget,” and I don’t have to worry about them working. When they break, I spend a fraction of the time troubleshooting that I would performing the task manually. A great, easy automation for anyone is post new content to Twitter. And while there…