Happy New Year everyone! Today is the day that most people are getting back to work, clearing out their inboxes, and getting cranked up for what lies ahead in 2012.

2011 was a great year for me in many ways with Gist being acquired by Research In Motion, me thankfully being deemed unnecessary in the new organization, connecting with a great team at marketing automation software company LoopFuse, and the launch of a venture of my own – Nearstream.

Several years ago, David Cohen who is the ringleader behind TechStars among other things wrote a post that stayed with me – Plenty of time for that later.

To paraphrase, if you want to start something look at the clock and write down the date and time. Post it somewhere you can see it and every minute, hour, or day that passes should remind you to get started.

That pretty much sums up my approach to 2012 as I embark upon a few new ventures and place responsibility for the outcomes primarily on my shoulders.

Predictions aren't my thing but I write this blog for many reasons including creating a record for my children and their children to read one day.  So, looking forward to 2012 here's how I see things:

World

The world is constantly changing with new allies, new enemies and a media circus designed to scare us in every direction.  The European Union is being tested by economic strain but I do not believe its end is near. The Middle East continues to be a flash point and I do hope that our hasty withdrawal from Iraq for political expediency does not sacrifice the steps towards a stable democratic government that 10 years of blood and treasure were invested to achieve. Afghanistan needs many more years of concentrated assistance to become a stable country. I don't believe this is an American problem, but I don't know who else is up for the challenge.  We have been at war with Iran since 1979 and the only ones who don't seem to know this is us. Tensions will continue to rise and a strong hand on our side will be needed to keep calm and exercise our power where needed.  Let's hope that person is in the Oval Office (see below).

Nation

We are sailing into a Presidential election year that will see ~$2 billion dollars spent to convince us one person is better than another (or more evil).  I am concerned about the scorched earth policies to be used (by both sides) and what it will do to us as a country. 

Barack Obama was elected on the promise of transformational leadership and he is a failure in that regard. I did not vote for him and will not be doing so this year so take that statement with a grain of salt. Even though he was not my choice, he is my President and I hold him accountable for the gap between words and actions that have been exhibited over and over.  He appealed to Americans most cherished sense of hope and rode that marketing slogan to the White House. His administration's policies have been unsuccessful in creating the environment for economic growth and his rhetoric has grown increasingly negative and divisive. The candidate of hope generally wins so we'll see if we get four more years of Obama running on fear and anger this time around.

Financial Markets

Who knows? Things regress to the mean over time so after a few years of volatility and poor returns, most people are giving up on the stock market and pulling money out. I'm not sure if we have seen true capitulation but history tells us that the time to invest is when others are not.  The election year dynamics will certainly spook it until there is some clarity on who will be leading us for the next four years.

Technology

All mobile, all the time.  We are consuming, communicating, and increasingly ignoring each other with our smartphones.  The penetration of these types of devices globally will continue to rise with prices coming down, processing power going up, and human connectivity increasing. What could possibly go wrong?

Social saturation. The giddiness of social networking is waning.  Many are fatigued with status updates and the constant flow of information that you didn't use to have but now must have.  Better filters, proactive privacy controls, and enabling off-line interactions are on the top of my list.

Me

I watch my girls grow up a little more every day and am committed to being present as often as I can to be part of their lives. I am shooting to lose all frequent traveler status this year replacing it with Skype, GotoMeeting, chat, and well thought through trips.  Let's see how I do.

I need to be more patient (always on my list) and take the time to reflect on the blessings I have been given.  I will run many more miles this year including maybe a second attempt at a marathon (failed to even participate in Portland last year after signing up).

I am responsible for the outcome this year so time to get to work!

Happy 2012!