A Second Look At 2016

It's the time I look back at my 2016 blogs to give myself feedback. The goal is the same as past second looks: relearning from my mistakes, reinforcing my lessons, reminding myself my moments, refreshing acquired knowledge, rediscovering new wisdom, correcting errant blogs, and sharing changes. These blogs are also the 2016 best blogs.

There are 11 blogs for A Second Look At 2016. There were 18 blogs in 2015, 17 blogs in 2014, and 11 blogs in 2013. I reduced the number of monthly blog postings from 9 to 7 starting in May 2016. Eight of the 11 blogs were posted in the months between Jan to Jun. The three remaining blogs were posted in Aug and Nov. I continue my second looks in Dec because I want a minimum one year to think about my past year.

I provide the title and link to the original blog, date, summary, and my feedback. Enjoy!

Blog Title: 1. Take The Time Cleaning And Organizing
Date: Friday January 22, 2016
Summary: There are positive benefits living in a clean residence.
Feedback: A person's or a family's clean residence is a sign the person or the family takes care of their surroundings. Moreover, a single person's clean residence is a sign of being a professional. Another sign of a clean residence is life free of clutter, waste, and anything toxic. Sincere effort is made for a clean life. Finally, a person who is bored or has free time should consider cleaning up something. Reorganize something. It's not boring. It's doing something better than doing nothing.

Blog Title: 2. Instant Bullets Blog Jan 25, 2016
Date: Monday January 25, 2016
Summary: Short paragraph blogs separated by bullet points.
Feedback: I want to emphasize some bullets points. They're "The Fairly Intelligent Fly" by James Thurber fable telling the reader there is no safety in numbers or in anything else, we should find time to refresh and relearn our skills since first responders are required to review consistently, don't be an old fuck, being physical now has long-term benefits, complementary relationships are long-term, true life experience is making mistakes and experiencing frustrations, and never skip meals.

Blog Title: 3. My Thoughts On Boring
Date: Friday February 19, 2016
Summary: I thought about what if I live a boring life.
Feedback: First, I removed the comparing myself with other in my daily life rules. We compare ourselves with other people. We should compare intelligently. We may realize our life is not as bad as we think.

Second, there are more people living boring lives than we believe. We see few boring people outdoors because most boring people stay indoors. Boring is a relative term. We compare ourselves who is boring and who is not boring. For example, a person with the latest and greatest goods may be living an exciting life. On the other hand, who needs the latest and greatest goods to live a good life? I drive a 12 year old car. My laptop is 10 years old. I have a small DVD collection and a tiny BD collection. The world has too many items to consume. Less is more. Live a happy life with sincere friends and a loving family is not a boring life.

Third, boring people choose to live a life minimizing harm. They live a life with safeguards and backup plans. A quiet life is a good life.

Fourth, Bill Gates' 11 Rules For Real Life Rule #7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.

Fifth, the process to success may be boring, may be routine, or may be dull; however, the end result is not boring. Most successful people say the process was not boring.

Sixth, I wrote a past blog on boring people titled Do Boring People Exist in Feb 2014.

Blog Title: 4. Throwback Blog: My All De Anza Review Blog
Date: Sunday February 28, 2016
Summary: I self-interviewed myself my years going back to school at De Anza College in 2009-2011.
Feedback: Even throwback blogs can be looked a third time. One question I asked myself was why I enrolled in Spring 2011 when I graduated in Winter 2011. I initially avoided answering the question by saying I learned something in my Auditing class.

The brutal truth was I didn't want to work. I still wanted to be a student. I wanted the freedom as a student. The job market was tough when I started searching for a job in Jul 2011. The job market 2011 was not the job market during my father's time.

Blog Title: 5. Work On Good Moments Happen To Good People
Date: Wednesday March 9, 2016
Summary: I shared all of the good moments in the present hoping for good moments in the future.
Feedback: I wrote eight blogs I personally called "self-pity" blogs using my daily job searching routines. I stop writing these self-pity blogs. I didn't need to defend myself what I do daily while unemployed. These blogs were a waste of time. These blogs reiterated learning new skills, hoping for the best, and working hard to achieve freedom. There was no need to remind myself. I bored the world with these self-pity blogs. The world waits to blog the end result which is freedom.

Blog Title: 6. My Miracle Is In Progress
Date: Monday March 21, 2016
Summary: My miracle achieving freedom considering my past life is in process.
Feedback: I consider myself lucky. I consider myself fortunate. I spent all my good luck points on who I am today. Also, I earn good luck points for how much I worked hard to be me today for tomorrow. I was weak. I was immature. Some may say I blogged another self-pity. My different perspectives are count my blessings, my naive life disappeared, and take personal responsibility. I forgive anyone and anything that hurt my past.

Blog Title: 7. Many Unemployed Jobs Searchers Like Me Are Frustrated
Date: Friday April 8, 2016
Summary: Unemployed people must blame the job search system.
Feedback: People who are neither laidoff nor fired don't know the job market today. Read between the lines on economic news. The economy is good; however, the job market is tough. I have been seeing full time direct company positions for which I applied. Time passes. These same positions are converted to contract position. Those who are working avoid entering the unemployment abyss.

Companies forgot how to hire the best candidates. Managers focus on recent experience and relevant knowledge. A candidate's character and small skills such as good communication and team player are all secondary. In the past, a candidate's character and small skills such as good communication and team player were primary because good job candidates learned on the job and learned outside the job if they needed extra skills.

Timing is everything. I have seen an increase in job openings days after President Donald Trump signed the new tax bill. Is the increase short-term or long-term? Time will tell.

Blog Title: 8. The Size Of The Pie Is Still The Same
Date: Thursday June 23, 2016
Summary: More people want a piece of the pie for which the size is the same. More people aren't going to get a piece.
Feedback: I said greed prevents more people getting a piece. Greed may not be correct. There is a finite amount of opportunities. Opportunities are key for people to be successful. Life has winners. Life has losers. There are good people who never achieve their goals because there are factors beyond their control.

The world population grows. The number of people increases faster than the number of increasing opportunities. It's like a factory producing robots. There are plenty of robots available. There is a limited about of demand for the robots.

Further, the rich people get richer. Money grows exponentially. Basic Finance 101. Investments earn interest over interest. The tax laws and business laws favor the rich.

Blog Title: 9. Top Ten Steve Jobs Quotes
Date: Wednesday August 3, 2016
Summary: I share more than ten Steve Jobs quotes. I learn from his wisdom; for example, "The journey is the reward" which is number one.
Feedback: I have a bias when it comes to Steve Jobs. I repost my favorite Steve Jobs quotes.

Blog Title: 10. Top Ten Life Lessons I Learned Watching Sports
Date: Saturday November 5, 2016
Summary: I posted life lessons I learned being a sports fan. They're curses are meant to be broken, rest, strong core, redemption, streaks and slumps, be professional, consistency, be calm, good coaching, and support.
Feedback: I want to add two more life lessons. The first is patience. Championship teams plan ahead. Championship teams don't win overnight. It takes time. Be patient. Mistakes are made. Lessons are learned. Successes are improved. Planning is writing down steps today for the successful tomorrow.

The second is winning includes forgiveness; on the other hand, winning can hide problems which may haunt the person or team in the future. All is well that ends well. Winning is powerful. Winning helps people heal from any hurtful past.

Consistency includes play your game. Play to your strengths. Play your comfort level. Play your style. Follow the game plan.

Blog Title: 11. Luck Is Part Of Life
Date: Tuesday November 15, 2016
Summary: The most successful people under appreciate luck and the least successful people over-rely on luck.
Feedback: Malcolm Gladwell wrote the book "Outliers". He wrote luck and opportunity are the reasons why some people succeed and some people don't succeed.

Another viewpoint. There are some people--good people--down on their luck. They're struggling financially trying to keep a roof under their heads, food on the tables, and gas in their cars. People should be lucky and should be fortunate if they have all three. Count your blessings. Take none of them for granted.

I play Mahjong. An experienced player knows the best ways to win; however, if he or she doesn't get the tiles, then the knowledge means nothing. Mahjong is like all games played. Some luck is involved. Players rarely discuss luck openly.

Finally, it's better to be lucky than smart. Agree or disagree?

Email: feedbackininblog@innovateinfinitely.com