The year 2009 was full of learnings for me. I have passed through the most challenging situations of life in this year. Following are some of the things that I have learnt from my experiences:

Love:

1) Love can move mountains. It really can.

2) Listening to a love song takes me to another world. Free from stress. Fills me with love.

Finance:

3) Managing personal finance. I need to have a budget for every month.

4) Credit cards & loans are a thing of the past for me. I was drowning in credit card and loan debts, till I realized that I need to do something about them. I've stopped using all credit cards. Stopped taking any more loans.

5) Not saving money for bad times can make me bankrupt in matter of days.

6) The stock market is always going down when I want to sell. Emergency funds should not be linked to the markets.

Personal:

7) Reading is the most important habit I developed in 2009. Reading books has helped me learn so much about so many things. I've realized that reading equips me with all the necessary tools to stay in touch, to conquer my fears, to learn, to make me aware about the world.

8) Goals. I've learnt that if I don't have a goal, I am not progressing anywhere. Goals are a must for everything - personal, financial, hobby, family, reading, traveling, etc.

9) I can be happy, when I want to. Whenever I want to. At all times.

10) No matter what disasters life brings to me, if I stay positive and focus on the solutions, miracles do happen.

11) The biggest assets I have are the people whom I know. And if I want to keep them as assets, its MY responsibility to keep in touch with them, not THEIRS.

12) Crying can get the frustration out. But, its never the solution.

13) If you have quit an addiction. Remain quit. You try it one time and you are an addict again.

14) Actions speak louder than words.

15) People who are by my side in the worst of times, are truly the people who love me.

Work:

16) I can be fooled by people. I must remain on guard at all times.

17) Being honest in what I do really helps me in the long run.

18) Its very difficult to build trust again once its broken.

19) Getting work done at Government offices will always be frustrating and time consuming. I better go prepared and remain composed. Anger would do no harm to them - will create stress in me instead.

20) The most difficult task I've ever done, is to ask an employee to leave my organization because of down sizing.

21) No matter how well I know someone, if I have to do a business or an agreement with him / her, I need to put it on paper in black and white. Verbal communication just doesn't work. I've had enough bad experiences. Lost a few friends in the whole deal.

22) In worst situations, stay positive. Do not focus on the problems. Focus on the solutions.

23) Remembering and calling a person by his / her name really makes that person remember mine. It also makes them feel they are special.

24) Never ever hesitate to ask for a discount. I've had some amazing bargains just by asking for it.

25) If my passion is not in what I do, then, I can never succeed in it.

26) To go after my passion requires guts, changes in lifestyle and lot of sacrifices. It takes time and I need to be patient.

There are so many things that I have learnt, that I regularly post on my Learnings blog. Looking forward to 2010 and to the challenges it brings to me. In absence of challenges, there is not much to learn. Wishing my readers a Happy 2010.