This is the first year that I have done The Edison Project with any real structure. It has been a lot of fun and gained a lot of interest. People have been really intrigued by my list, made suggestions for next years list (feel free to get in touch with suggestions through one of the social media channels linked at the top of the page), and also made steps to create their own list (I say ‘made steps’ as I am yet to see someone else’s list).
Out of the 100 items on my first list, only 14 were completed. Whilst this may not be a lot, it was never my intention to complete all 100. The items on the list ranged in difficulty, and it was one of the more difficult tasks that became a hurdle in my progress – #6: Buy a House/Flat. In review, this hurdle simply became an excuse as my mind was taken off the other goals in my list.
Whilst I achieved a lot in year one, this project is an evolving one. It has been a big learning curve. I think the biggest thing I learnt in year one was the need to apply the SMARTER rules to goal setting, especially in being specific. There were a few goals where I had been too vague in what I wanted to achieve, and therefore, too vague in what defined success.
My biggest regret from 2014 was the fact that the list was not as agile as I would have liked it to be have been. There were opportunities and experiences that popped up within the year, but there was no room to accommodate them within the list. In this situation I have to keep in mind that the objective in having a list is to simply achieve more.