And the winning blog post this year? *Drum roll by the little drummer boy* My China adventure! Thanks to all of my readers, twitter followers, Linkedin connections, friends and family for being there through thick and thin. As the end of the year is fast approaching it is rewarding to look back at your accomplishments during 2013. Happy holidays everyone!!!

1. Staying grounded
• Not letting your ego rule your head is important and I learned some valuable lessons this year in become more patient with all kinds of people. I wrote about a number of things to help keep you focused on the results rather than the short term gains.
• Know what you can and cannot change
• Change comes slowly
• Offer to help
2. Continuous learning
• Not only did I complete my MBA this year, but I read a record number of books! Really that's not saying much but I realized that I only wrote reviews on a fraction of them. Let me know if there are any books on this list that you'd like me to write about!
1. Ready Player One
2. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
3. Lean In
4. Bossypants
5. Three Cups of Tea
6. Success Built to Last
7. What the Best CEOs Know
8. How the Mighty Fall
9. Good to Great
10. The E-Myth Revisited
11. Linchpin
12. Enchantment
13. The Power of Habit
14. Made to Stick
3. Staying positive
• I've stayed vigilant and have no doubt that I will find a wonderful new job in the new year. I've stayed busy contributing to society in other ways and I can't wait to discover what challenges the future holds. A few of my posts this year touched on ideas to keep a smile on your face.
• Laughter reduces stress
• True commitment doesn't come and go
• Celebrate the small (and big) wins

I look forward to another full year of blogging and sharing my thoughts with you. Post a comment below!

I am one "smart cookie"!

I'm planning a recessed lighting project in my living room and it can be a complicated question as to where each of the lights is installed. It is a bit tricky determining exactly how far away and at what angle you place a focused light on a piece of art, a couch, and general ambiance. This is where my inspiration comes from this week, light . Just like lights in a living room, how do highlight certain accomplishments and skills of your own?

1. Direct accent light or promoting yourself
• When looking for a new job or promotion, you are forced to "toot your own horn" during interviews and reviews. You have to strategically sell yourself and tell people "yes, I am the best person for the job and this is why". It may seem egotistical to self-promote, but honestly you are the only person that knows the exact input and output of your work. Others wouldn't know the six failed attempts before the finished product unless you tell them how tough a problem it actually was. When consciously and carefully done, placing yourself in the spotlight can be the right decision.
2. Ambient light or subtle and passive marketing
• General room lighting is like relying on your work to speak for itself, which is best for every day use. Without a doubt, your actions speak louder than your words and results are better than shamelessly promoting yourself. If done well, your team will be rock stars or shining stars and complement each other so everyone gets credit. We know we can't do it all by ourselves!
3. Natural light or in other words, no endorsement
• Although the sun does have all of that vitamin D that is so good for us, the sunlight that comes and goes every day is easy to forget about. We expect it, rely on it, and take it for granted. When your work becomes an afterthought, you aren't being remembered or recognized! Do not leave it to chance, luck, or time and be proud of your efforts. If you don't want to do it yourself, find an advocate (or a contractor in the case of the living room) to do this light work for you.

Happy Birthday to my boyfriend, my dad, and my grandpa! For our family holiday get-together this year, I did a clever combination of chocolate birthday cake and Thanksgiving pie: chocolate pie! It got me thinking, why can't we combine other things to simplify our lives? Two birds with one stone? Here are some ideas that you could implement every day!

1. Walking meetings
• Everyone has one-on-ones with their boss, lunchtime catch-ups with colleagues, or other smaller meetings in the office. If you don't need PowerPoint, why not take it outside? You get exercise AND your work done. And a bonus is the improved attitude that getting outside does to our motivation. Win-win-win!
2. Audiobooks
• Ever since I had a long evening commute, I started listening to audio-books in my car. I "read" a record 12 books this year. What a great use of time, to read AND travel at once? Being well-read makes you wise, happy, and creative. And the bonus? The traffic doesn't turn into road rage for you when you are in the middle of a book climax!
3. Tweet
• Any corporate event when you get a group of people together usually results in some good crowds and often in the name of charity too. Whenever you whip out that iPhone camera to snap a picture to document the occasion, tweet about it! It not only allows coworkers to see and save it, but it also promotes the culture at your company, which is definitely worth bragging about.