Top 5 Trends for 2011 (for George G Smith Jr)

Now that 2011 is here, we’re going to examine the top trends for George G Smith Jr entering the new year. This much anticipated list was cultivated by a panel of experts and signifies the trends that we see based on what happened in 2010. So without further ado – here goes:

1) He will spend a lot of time on the internet

If you look at the 5 year trends, George G Smith Jr has seen his time spent on the internet grow by at least 5% year over year. The jump between 2009 and 2010 was no different – his data consumption grew by 8%. We see this trend growing even more so in 2011 and estimate a growth of at least 6%.

2) Much of that time spent on the internet will be mobile.

Desktop/Laptop consumption of online properties continued a declining trend in 2010. In fact, from 2009-2010, George G Smith Jr’s online consumption fell 10% when taking into account only Desktop and laptop usage. It was, however, the mobile device where George G Smith Jr was able to make up considerable ground. We see this trend continued – especially if the rumored iPad 2 comes out this spring.

3) Alcohol consumption will be on the decrease in 2010.

While the trends would indicate otherwise, we see a couple motivating factors that will decrease the amount of alcohol that was consumed in 2010. The top factors: Early Morning Wake Ups, Long-Term Relationship, and an expressed desire to get in shape. The latter is too transient, however, the first two will have significant impacts on the amount of alcohol consumed. We do see a significant decrease in beer consumption, but would anticipate a large uptick in the amount of wine consumed. We don’t think the increase in wine will compensate for the beer, which is why we see this as a downward trend.

4) There will be more blogging in 2011

Hard to think that there could be less blogging than in 2010 – a 8 year low – and it would appear in 2011, it won’t be. Already 6 days in, there has been more activity on his personal blog and an added interest to start co-blogging with some partners. It would appear that blogging will be more consolidated this year – focusing on one or two sites rather than the plethora of Tumblr, Posterous, and other blogs that represented 2010′s stunted year.

5) More Travel for Personal Pleasure

After a strong year packing on the miles for business, a renewed emphasis on personal travel will dominate the travel landscape in 2011. Q2 and Q3 seem ripe for personal travel – from weekend trips to perhaps something more, we’re looking to see frequent smiles from the frequent flier this year

These trends cover the basics, but what other trends do you see on the horizon for George G Smith Jr? Do you see any trends for yourself? Leave a comment – or better yet – write a blog post responding to this one!

This is the Best Post Ever

(Seriously – the best post ever.)

Of course, I’ll change my mind when I stop writing this post. I’ll go and find the next best thing ever (which coincidently is: http://www.vandermemes.com). Consistently throughout my day I will declare something “the best” only to subject myself (and my readers/followers/stalkers) with something “even better” just a few minutes later. (Which, by definition, is kind of impossible). Why do I do this?

Hyperbole has taken over our vernacular. Is this the result of entire generations growing up on Madison Avenue hype and corporate messaging? Or is this the result of an education system that doesn’t teach kids the real meaning of superlatives – resulting in consistent misuse of words. I don’t know, but it is starting to bug me.

So what’s your point?

I’m going to make a concerted effort in 2011 to not use hyperbole to describe things. I won’t promise that I won’t do it; after all, excitement sometimes can’t be contained, but I will promise an all-out effort to maintain perspective in life. I think proper perspective allows you to really understand the situations around you and react properly. I challenge you to do the same. By being more eloquent with your descriptions, we can converse with each other better.

Do you find yourself using too many superlatives and hyperbole? Do you think you can make yourself stop? What are some helpful tips to accomplish this?

The Absence of Analog

Over the last year, I’ve stopped keeping an analog journal for the first time in my life. It has, mostly, to do with my lack of a work/life balance, the absence of a good desk in my small NYC apartment, and free time. Still – I miss it.

Here are some old images from my journaling days:

I have over 45 journals of my writings. They are hidden in boxes and will probably be discovered after I pass. I don’t know what’s in most of them. I do know I keep important things written down. I chronicle the things that matter to me. I’ve moved to the digital realm but I miss the feeling of really writing. It cleans out the soul. I need to get in the practice of it again.

Not Happy? Change Something!

I was a vegetarian from around the time I was 13 to around the time I was 23. That’s a whole decade where I did not eat meat. It’s kind of funny to think back at those days – especially when the happiest day of my week is the day that I get to visit Croxley’s for their $.10 wing nights. Still – it was a definitive part of my history. So, why did I change? The answer: MATH.

Picture your life like a giant algebra puzzle (I know, I know – who remembers algebra?). Whatever the equation is – the goal is to have that equation equal “happiness.” Everyone’s equation is different, but the goal is the same. So, after some initial post-collegiate adventures, I moved to Syracuse. Syracuse, NY – my home town. Which, at the time, felt like I accomplished nothing in the five years since I graduated high school. No diploma, no life experience, no tales from the other side could convince me otherwise – I was a failure (I’d link to those introspective blog posts, but I’ll save that for my memoirs).

That’s the thing about home towns – especially during the times of early adult hood. I didn’t know that I was simply part of a new phenomena, I just knew that things were not working out the way I wanted them to. So I started to think about what I wasn’t happy about. The first things that popped into my head were “Location” and “Work.” These were two big variables that I was decidedly unhappy with. I wasn’t doing work that was fitting for what I wanted to do in my career. And I was unhappy living back in my home town, a place that felt extremely tiny despite the 700k people living in the metro area.

The problem with big variables is that they aren’t exactly easy to change. Moving and employment are intrinsically tied together – so unless you have the savings to pay for the move and the possible months of unemployment, moving isn’t truly an option (I’ll discover a few years later that it’s also not as hard as I imagined it to be, but that’s another story for another time). So, if I can’t move and the local economy making it hard to find worth employment – what should I do?

Let’s go back to that algebra problem of life? We’ve established that there are big variables out there (work, employment) but what about the little variables? Each day we’re given a choice to do certain things. They can be as simple as the route we take to work or the places we frequent. Whatever they are – they impact the rest of your life as much as those big variables do. Make enough change to the little variables and there might be more impact on your life than the big ones could provide. Changing something – anything – is an important step toward happiness.

So – I looked at my life and started to think about the things that I never thought about. I lived a pretty simple life. I was living with some friends of the family, I was paying myself out of debt and I had very few friends. But diving deeper, I decided to look at some things that I never thought about. The first thing: what I ate. Despite being a vegetarian, I wasn’t the most healthy eater. And, the label vegetarian, never really fit with me. There was no Upton Sinclair/anti-meat industry moment. There was no “Animals are all living beings” empathy. There was just the simple fact that I did not eat meat. No rhyme. No reason. And that wasn’t good enough.

I started eating meat slowly, but it quickly paid dividends. When word got around that I was no longer a vegetarian, I was invited out to guys nights at Hooters. Sure, that’s not a recipe for changing your life for good – but it expanded my social circle. I started to enjoy my home town in a new way – forgetting the pangs of adolescents and discovering and making new memories. I started to make some good friends who, while not a part of my life anymore, served a role and introduced me to some great people I am still close with today. I evolved and my life became happier. A small, little choice changed my life. It effected the equation and I was closer to the happiness we all crave.

It took years for me to be happy but I never forgot that lesson – if you’re unhappy, change something. It’s powerful when you realize how easy it is. At 29 years old (almost 30 as my girlfriend likes to remind me), I am happier than I have ever been. But I’m not completely there yet. There’s a reexamination of what I want in my life. Being in love added a new variable that I never before realized was part of the equation and I realize that it’s actually the best part of the equation. The other variables have become smaller. It’s the smaller variables that I need to shift because I am so close to complete happiness. So close to the life that I want that I no longer am obsessed with it. Just a few tweaks here and there and it will be complete. And I know that, if I ever get too far from the answer, I can always just do the one thing that has produced results: Change Something.