2010 is drawing to a close. It’s been a great year for me. Yep, it was that awesome. To continue on from last year, I present a review of my 2010.

Personal Outlook

I think 2010 was the year I really discovered myself. I feel that more than ever, I have clarity about what I want out of life. Priorities have changed, and I’m not the same person I was 2-3 years ago.

I am not discontented. I am not chasing for ‘more’. I am not worried about things that don’t matter in the big picture.

I am now more purposeful. I am raring to go. I am different. I am grateful. I am happy.

Family

2010 will be best remembered for one thing, and that was little Zachary Wang Jia Le joining our family.

Zack at 1 day old

In a blink of an eye, he’s already 9 months and weighing 9.8kg. He has brought so much joy to the family but phew, is he a handful!

Latest trick: sticking out his tongue

Zack’s arrival has totally changed the lives of myself and Pei Chyi. All of our decisions now are made with him in mind. The focus of our lives have changed away from ourselves to him.

Zack has also brought me closer to the rest of my family. I now have a thousand more (Zack-related) topics to talk about with parents, in-laws, aunts, siblings, cousins, etc.

Mama & Zack

I fall deeper in love with my wonderful wife each day, and I am blessed that she is by my side to raise Zack. I am also so very grateful that our values are aligned and she feels the same way I feel about our priorities.

Career

There were a few people who wondered if I’m just being a bum by ‘working from home’ and not having a real job. I put that down to them not understanding the type of work I do.

Fortunately, business has been good. Buzzmedia had a comfortable increase in revenue over last year and the total worth of all projects in 2010 was close to six figures.

I’ve also been lucky to work with lots of great people, including my business partners at Level5, designer extraordinaire Reese, and friends from the Third Tribe community.

This past year I also realized that you can still get caught up in a hamster wheel even if you run your own business. Work is a means to an end, not an end in itself, but that’s how many people live their lives.

They get up every morning and go to work. Their dreams, the things they’ve always wanted to do, the projects that will really define who they are, will get left by the side of the highway on their drive to work.

In 2011 I’m changing my business model. I am transitioning to an internet business, influenced by the Third Tribe. If successful, it will separate my time from my income and may also result in even more people wondering if I’m just bumming around and wasting my time.

Projects

Unfortunately the project that I had in mind last year (a Facebook marketing guide) never materialized. That’s ok, because my priorities have changed. But I’m disappointed that I wasn’t able to just make it happen. Turning ideas into reality will be a significant theme for me in 2011.

The ClickStarter
As mentioned, turning ideas into reality will be a significant theme and this will be spearheaded by my new website The ClickStarter. I made the mistake of thinking and planning but never actually starting on my projects. The ClickStarter is my starting point for my 2011 plans. It’s a work in progress, but I wanted to go live with it to prevent myself from getting caught in the trap of trying to make it ‘perfect’. Ultimately I want to use it to hold myself accountable to my planned transition to an internet business and hopefully inspire a few people along the way.

LOLshow
I had the fun opportunity to participate in a few of John Lim‘s podcasts, and even to be a regular host along with Niki Cheong and David Lian on the LOLshow, or Life Online Show. We’ve already got 11 episodes up and I’m looking forward to helping grow it in the coming year.

Retired Projects
Due to limited bandwidth and changing priorities, I am going to focus less on myMacBUZZ and have already handed day-to-day management to J.Shamsul.

Travel

Zack slept through his first plane ride

Because of Zack, traveling was difficult. We only managed to visit Singapore because of my cousin Marie’s wedding. With a baby in tow, we didn’t do anything tourist-y but it was an interesting experience because it was Zack’s first ride on a plane.. but he slept through most of it.

Other Highlights

iPad

Can you tell that I'm happy?

Apple introduced the iPad in January this year. I was lucky enough to get a unit in June, before it was officially available in Malaysia. It was one of the best purchases of the year. It’s not a ‘computer’, it’s just a screen that shows me the web, books, movies, etc. The technology behind it is invisible and it’s steadily changing how I, and soon Zack, relate to technology.

WordCamp Malaysia

WordCamp Malaysia speakers

WordPress has been an important part of 2010 for me. In May I was lucky enough to be invited to speak at the inaugural WordCamp Malaysia. It was great experience for me and I would like to thank the organizers for making me a part of it.

Headway Themes
The Headway Premium WordPress theme has become my theme of choice because of it’s flexibility, powerful features and friendly community. I strongly encourage you to have a look at it’s features.

My first ever (new) car
Last month I bought a car. It’s the 1st car that I’ve ever bought straight from the showroom. All the cars I drove previously were 2nd hand cars, which felt like hand-me-downs. So far I’m really enjoying my Proton Persona.

Here’s to 2011

And that was my 2010 in review! I’m looking to 2011, my 30th birthday and all the opportunities and challenges that go with it. Happy new year!

Related posts:

1. 2009: Year In Review
2. Online Marketing Coaching up for grabs at Twestival KL 2010
3. Did you *really* expect a Christmas card from David?

If you’re in the social media business you’d definitely want to be like Chris Brogan. He’s like the father of social media marketing. He wrote a book on it. His blog has got more readers than I’ll ever have. In short, he’s a rockstar.

Lots of people would love to trade places with Chris, but not me. I’m not saying that I’m lazy, but it starts to get crazy when it get’s like this:

I thought about the inanity of waking up at 5:45AM after going to bed around 12:45AM and not really falling asleep until closer to 3AM.

Click here to view the embedded video.

See more in his Overnight Success series.

It’s the first week of the new decade and I’ve been thinking long and hard about my priorities. Things have changed for me, I’m gonna be a daddy. I have nothing but respect for Chris, but I think I’d rather follow the footsteps of Tim Ferris, Jonathan Fields or John & Lea Woodward. I bet they get more sleep, and more time to watch their kids grow up.

I figured I should really start doing yearly summaries since I blog irregularly. Hence, I present to you David Wang’s year in review, 2009 edition.

Career

I started off 2009 as the Web Analytics and Social Media Manager for AGENDA. We had moved to our new office in Solaris Mont Kiara and my commute had grown longer. It was a good job that helped me gain the experience I needed to springboard my own business.

In June, I took Buzzmedia out of hibernation and started working full time on it again. This time, it felt like Buzzmedia 2.0 because I think I finally managed to get my business on the right track. Many people asked why I was leaving my job in the middle of a global recession, so I wrote down my answers why.

I feel extremely fortunate to have had the opportunities to consult for some big brands, to help Restaurant Dubrovnik and Delectable with their online marketing and to collaborate with and be inspired by Reese. I’ve also ventured into seminars and trainings and would say that overall, Buzzmedia has been doing well.

I’ve also now started up a 2nd company, Level5 Creative, with a bunch of friends (Vernon, Danny, Wilfred, Juan and Intan). Level5 is best described as a creative agency in the style of Voltron, where 6 different specialist combine powers so we can take on bigger projects. Besides the fun factor of saying that I now run 2 companies, Level5 totally opens up new possibilities for myself and my partners.

Social media, Twitter and LinkedIn have opened up new opportunities for me this past year. It’s also led me to be involved with the Social Media Club, KL chapter and helped me make a (small but respectable) name for myself in the industry. I knew goofing off on the internet would eventually pay off!

In 2010, I’m hoping to continue building a name for myself. The plan is to help educate others through the Buzzmedia blog and with 1-2 ebooks this year. Oh yeah, sign up for the Buzzmedia Mailing List too.

Random photo: Four Davids at SMC-KL #1

Family

So many things happened to our family in 2009, but the one that stands out is Ah Kong passing on. He left us almost a year to the day that Ah Mah passed on, which brought up lots of painful memories for all of us. Ah Kong had deteriorated steadily after Ah Mah left us and unfortunately had a fall in March. We also discovered later that he had a tumor in his stomach. I felt especially bad for Ah Kong in his last few days, but I’m glad that he’s in a better place now and resting together with Ah Mah. I was close to my grandparents, they helped raise me, and I’ll miss them dearly.

There were also a few more events that was painful in my family. It’s too private to share but suffice to say there were at least 2 very down occasions this year.

On the other end of the emotional scale, Pei Chyi and I were blessed with a baby in July! The little guy is due end-March or early-April in 2010, so that’s another thing for me to look forward to next year. I’m super excited and a little scared at the same time. 2009 has been a coming-of-age for me somewhat as I settle down into my new home, my own home. However, having a baby and becoming a parent is going to bring even bigger changes. See Pei Chyi’s blog for updates on our little Muffin.

Married life has grown better and better as Pei Chyi and I celebrated our 1st anniversary as husband and wife in March. She’s been my source of strength and joy. Words can’t express how much I love Pei Chyi

Travel

Gallivanting around Paris on Segway!

Travelling is always fun, and this year I  did quite a bit of it, together with Pei Chyi.

1. Melbourne (14-18 January) – Pei Chyi & I returned to Melbourne for the 1st time since our graduation for Gavin & Joanie’s wedding. We’ve decided Melbourne is our Love City, since we fell in love there and really love the city. Photos on Flickr.
2. Paris (28-29 March) – Pei Chyi had to go to Dakar, Senegal for work and on the way home we met up in Paris. We only spent 48 hours in Paris, but it was super fun. I’m now toying with the idea of an extended stay in Paris–6 months! Photos on Flickr.
3. Port Dickson (11-13 July) – This was the 1st family holiday in a long time since Ah Kong and Ah Mah have not been able to travel. It was also the 1st family holiday completely organised by the ‘young generation’, my cousins and me.
4. Kuching (29 Oct-1 Nov) – We decided to go for another holiday before Pei Chyi is unable to travel due to the pregnancy, hence this 2-night trip to Kuching. The venue was decided because Grace was travelling back home to visit her parents, but oh man, Kuching is real quiet for city slickers like us. Photos on Flickr.
5. Singapore (5-6 Dec) – The final trip of the year was an overnight trip to Singapore with Josie for Lye Keat & Mei Li’s wedding. Singapore is.. Singapore, didn’t have the time to do anything of note.

Projects

There’s not much to say in terms of projects. The only thing of note is perhaps that myMacBUZZ was invited to official Apple events along with other members of the traditional media. I’ve also been invited to more blogger events by companies wanting to get their word out to the public, so apparently I’ve grown a bit more influential than last year.

The lack of successful projects to show for in 2009 is perhaps an indication of how busy I was this year. That’s not good, because the reason for working for myself is so that I can spend time working on projects I enjoy. As 2009 draws to a close, I’ve got a firm idea of at least 1 project that I will really push next year. So, stay tuned I guess

After about a year since I joined AGENDA, I am striking it out on my own again. Lot’s of friends and colleagues have asked me why and it’s quite difficult to explain. To help explain (and remind myself why I made this decision), I’ve created this little graphic:

Those who know Seth Godin will recognise it as “The Dip” from his book of the same name. The Dip is the crappy part that you need to push hard and slog through before you achieve massive success.

For me, I will transition from a pretty good career on the left to the life goals and the things that are important to me on the right. Along the way I know and expect to get caught in the Dip, but this graphic will help remind me exactly why I’m doing this and the rewards that await me when I slog through. Yes, afternoon naps are really a life goal for me

On the top of the list of my life goals is living fully and consciously. With this I mean that I want to decide my life’s path and not just ‘flow along’ with everything else. Too many people just allow themselves to flow along in life. I want to be able to guide my way towards something I can call my own, that I will look forward to when I wake up each morning.

Quitting my job and running my own business is the only option I see (at the moment) that puts me in direct control of my journey towards my life goals. I like having a job, and I’m not saying my employer sucks, but it’s too easy to get caught up with work and end up just doing stuff blindly or un-consciously. Man, that sounds like crazy hippie talk.

Making this decision is not easy and involved a lot of thought. Now that I’m married, it’s not all about myself and my lovely wife, Pei Chyi, has really been supportive throughout. Thank you dear, I really couldn’t do it without you.

Stay tuned! It may take a while, but in my next post I’m going to describe what I’ll be up to. Thanks everyone for your support.

Update 6 July: I’ve launched my business site