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Thursday 18 December 2014

Lessons from the corporate jungle

This evening is a great evening for me.

It's the first evening of my 2014 holiday. My auto-responder on my work e-mail address is set to vacation mode, and now you KNOW it's game-on.

Despite that, I think I feel a bit less 'holiday-ish' than ever, and it's mostly because of the rollercoaster year I've been on.

Moving from journalism into corporate communications is no joke, trust me. In my case it was corporate communications for a multinational company, so there have been foreign languages to learn in both the real and metaphorical business sense.

This 'Weird Al' video really echoes with me right now (dare I say I feel its 'synergy'?):

I've also recently been introduced to the wonder that is Breaking Bad (three seasons down, two left!), and it's packed with really insightful philosophies.

One scene that really struck me was when Jesse was asked by his school-teacher, 'Is this the best you can do?' There was no judgement, it was just a straight-forward question.

That really got me thinking ... what IS the best I can do, and am I doing it already? At least part of this year has been so hectic because I've really tried to ensure that I push every single project I work on that little step further from 'adequate' to 'intriguing', and that requires 24/7 commitment. But is it my best?

What IS my best, and how will I know that I can achieve it? I think this is a great question to ponder over these holidays. It's not just about relaxing on the beach and watching the rest of Breaking Bad (which I'll do) ... for 2015 I really want to just build of the momentum I've created through blood, sweat and tears in 2014.

It's a challenge. It's an opportunity. It's exciting.

It's a way to look past the 'corporate jargon for jargon's sake', to the core philosophies and highly-condensed little pearls of wisdom each piece of jargon contains.

Tomorrow (Friday) is my 29th birthday. I'm looking at the sharp edge of the big 3-0 approaching, and I'm ready for it. Bring it on, life.

An awesome festive season to you, my friends and dear readers. Thanks for joining me on this journey.