A holiday away, but not alone....

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I hope everyone is having an amazing day, wherever in the world they are.

It is crazy to think how I got here, my first holiday away from home. One year ago today, I was sitting in Aspen, waiting for the phone to ring. I had my interview for Manchester Business School. If all things went well, I would get to pack up and move overseas the following Sept. I was at my grandma’s house with Kathryn, my mom, Mike, and of course, Granny. They were listing to one half of my conversation, and critiquing (congratulating) my answers as soon as it was over. (The room upstairs has a window to the living room, so they weren’t hanging by the door with a cup against it!)

I am very close to my family (ies), and holidays were spent diving around from house to house (see the movie ‘Four Christmases”, like that, less crazy though, thankfully.) That is the challenge of having divorced parents. But the challenge ends at logistics. I am so lucky to have such a warm and loving extended family, and have been so welcomed into Kathryn’s family. Even if it was tiring driving to house after house, and trust me, it is, every holiday was filled with love, family and food! And I couldn’t ask for more. Going from that, to a thanksgiving spent learning about mergers and acquisitions, a dinner at an Italian restaurant with a good friend, and back home to work on more projects is quite a change! Spending my first holiday away has proved to be a bit harder than I thought.

The challenges of being away from my family and the home I have known for pretty much all my memorable life got me thinking about why I am here, what I am doing, and most importantly, in the themes of the holiday, what I am thankful for. So be warned, there might be sappiness. But there will be a lot of love.

I am thankful for the opportunity I am embracing at Manchester Business School. The chance to change my life, study my ass of, party on occasion, and build my skills to move to the next step of my career. It is funny, all thought I came to England to learn, I am not learning everything from England. It is better than that. I am learning from England, I am learning from India, Peru, China, Japan, Brazil, etc. I am learning from over 45 different countries, with more to be added from next year’s class. I am learning from the best and brightest these countries have to offer. I spend more time with people who don’t live in England than I do with people from here. But that is the glorious part of Manchester. That true international make up, which is helping me grow.

I am thankful for Not for Profit, Mergers and Acquistions, Marketing, Corporate Finance, Accounting, Economics, and every other class/project I have done or will do. Well, maybe not accounting, but can you blame me? Even with the challenges from class, or a month long ‘hell’ stretch with 4 presentations, 4 reports, 1 test and countless case studies (I think, I might have lost count…), these classes give us the environment to learn from each other. Sometimes they are good. Sometimes they suck. Well, most of the time they suck. But that is the point of us being here, learning the technical skills, but more importantly, the medium for us to learn from each other. Learning about how to manage your time, manage your efficiencies, and manage working in a team.

I am thankful for Red Bull. While it may not actually give you wings, it does help you plough through tough classes and study sessions. Keeps you awake when you have just a couple more hours to go.

I am thankful for the internet. Not only does it help with the studies, more importantly, it helps with sanity. Staying in contact with sports, news, and tv (yes, there is websites for that!) Some nights you have to shut out the world and responsibilities, take some personal time and not have a care in the world. Don’t worry, the assignments will still be there the next day.

I am thankful for Saturday afternoon football (soccer, when I am not to hungover), old friends, new friends and anyone that who has come into my life. I am thankful for the occasional Manchester sun (got to enjoy it when it comes). I am thankful for the 5 minute walk to school, and will be even more thankful when the weather gets worse! I am thankful for my camera, my running shoes and every other tool that gives me those moments of peace.

I am thankful for my family. They have loved and supported me every stage of my life. They have been with me every step of the way, the mistakes I made, the adventures I went on, and the learning I have done. I have been lucky enough, through all the craziness life throws at everyone, to have their support and love.

And I am thankful for Kathryn. Her support has been amazing. She gave me enough strength to set out on this adventure, and she gives me the strength to be my best in everything I do.

Even though Thanksgiving has been hard being away, I still have so many things to be thankful for. Most importantly, I am thankful that being away does not mean I am alone.

Occupy Yourself

Don't worry, this blog is not about politics. If you want to talk about why I believe what I believe, feel free to e-mail me. If you want to argue, feel free to e-mail yourself. But the occupy protests have me thinking. What will be the America I come home to be like? What will it be like in 10 years? For my kids?

My democratic friends will say it will be bad because of the republicans. My republican friends (yes, I do have a few) will say it will be bad because of the democrats. But they are both wrong. It is already bad.

I can talk for hours on what I think on politics (and have many times before.) But politics isn't why America is in bad shape. And it isn't what is going to fix it. We are in a crisis because of us, and we are the only ones that can fix it.


You see the crisis is not political. It wasn't created in Washington, and it not anything new. It has been a long time coming. Washington simply is a focal point for us to watch it play out. But it is easier to blame Washington than it is to blame ourselves. But what people don't realize, it is easy to fix. I truly think it breaks down into two simple things. So what are these simple things?

The first is a desire to learn. In other posts, I have talked about not being afraid to fail, and to try to continue to better yourselves. That means actually taking the time to learn something new. But I don't think most people do that. Now, I will admit, watching the train wreck cast of the Jersey shore may be more entertaining than learning about federal monetary policy. But one of them is being manipulated (by both parties) in order to gain your vote. I'll let you guess which one.

The thing is learning is so simple. We have endless resources out there. The internet has put everything at our fingertips. But it has also put games, videos, porn, chat room, sports and basically everything else at our fingertips too. Guess what, you don't have to give those other things up. Since learning is a never ending activity (I plan to stop learning the day I die), a little bit of time each week adds up! Anyone can do it. I am living proof.

Studying text books and searching the internet is a great tool for learning, but sometimes can be daunting. Don't worry, there is an easier way. You just have to ask somebody. And that takes me to my second point.

Learn to learn from your fellow man. And hopefully, in turn, they learn to learn from you. Basically, this is all about the golden rule. We all know it, but we don't all practice it. How can we expect congress to behave and function when we barely can as a society. Think for a minute. When is the last time you saw someone treat another person negatively. A day? A week? I would be surprised if the answer is more than that. When is the last time you have treated someone negatively?

We have to break down these walls with each other. Just because someone is a Democrat does not mean they are a lazy hippy wanting a free ride. Just because someone is a Republican does not mean they are soulless and greedy. Yet, during political times, more often than not, these labels are used on people with different views. I have done it.

Have you ever asked someone why the believe what they believe instead of telling them they are wrong?

We are so quick to discredit our fellow man, so quick to discard their thoughts. But all we need to do is take a step back, RESPECT THEM, and start a dialog. Start talking about what makes us common, not what makes us different. Start talking about ways we can both succeed together, not ways we can't. Go out of your way to be nice, help someone else. Ask them why instead of telling them no. Maybe little kids have had it right all along.

I have brought up politics several times, but our problems are so much greater than that. Politics just simply takes our problems and shines a big spot light right on them. And the keys to fixing them are not very hard.

So I am putting a challenge out there to anyone that is reading this.

1. Commit to learning about something new every week. Take a topic outside of your current job, current life. There are so many resources out there that make it fun. Ted.com, thersa.org, the Kahn Academy. Or talk to a friend, or a stranger. Just make sure to ask why.

2. Commit to improving someones day every week. Go out of your way, talk to them, help a friend, help a stranger, don't yell at a service rep. What ever it is, take out one negative interaction with somebody, and replace it with one positive.

And when you master doing that once a week, try for twice, then three times, and so on.

If you think this is a good idea, please share it with someone else. Share my blog, make a Facebook post, challenge your friends to do better and be better, just do something. 

Ultimately, change doesn't start in Washington. There is no point in occupying Wall Street. It is time to occupy ourselves. Start the change within.

(Note: While this is was written with context going towards my American friends, the ideas are universal, and the challenge is global. Lets start to make this world a better place.)

9 Oct 2011

The hardest thing I have ever tried The hardest thing I have ever done:

Over the summer, I was talking to a colleague, Andre, about running a marathon. After finding the Manchester Marathon in Nov, and realizing it was in New Hampshire, not my new home, I was able to find plenty of excuses to not sign up for another one. Then one day I got an e-mail from another colleague, Maanas. He informed me that he and Andre were signed up to run the Liverpool Marathon. The date, 9 Oct, 2011. The registration deadline? The next day. I didn't have much time to think about it. I have always wanted to run a marathon, but always had an excuse. I would get fit first, then I would sign up. Funny thing, that never seemed to work out. So here was my chance to jump into the deep end and just sign up for the race. I would start training right away (so I thought.) Not only did I sign up, I talked a 4th colleague into doing the same. And just like that, Rafael and I were running our 1st marathons, in order to join the exclusive club Maanas and Andre were already members(2 and 3 I believe.)

There is an old cliche, that is used all the time. I imagine most people have heard the phrase 'it's not a sprint, it's a marathon.' I don't know where that came from, but even I have said it before. Hell, I can't count how many times it has been said about the MBA! But what does that really mean? Well, if you have ever wondered that, you are in luck, because yesterday, I had quite a bit of time to think about the answer to that.

1. It's all about the training: When I signed up for Liverpool, I had three months to train. I had been running much of the spring, so I was in a good position. But then I stopped. It was my last summer home, running was the last thing on my mind. So my training started just 8 weeks before my race. Most training programs look for 13-18 weeks to get your body ready. My procrastination only left me 8. But I still was able to train. And, if you think about it, all my MBA colleagues have been training for our 'marathon' of school. We have done this through undergrad programs, the GMAT, and most importantly, our work experience. That is why I chose MBS, the value they put on work experience. If I didn't have the early summer training, I would not have been able to be ready in 8 weeks. If I didn't have 5 years experience working at my last job, I would not have been ready for school. Never over look training.

2. Set some goals: I have never been much of a goal setter, at least not in the old fashion sense. I always would strive to get better, but never put them down on paper. Never put tangible numbers to things. It was always more open and vague, like never stop learning. But to some extent, I do have some goals. Things to accomplish during my time here at MBS. Things to work on, ways to be better. Just like I had in Liverpool. I knew my pace to run, I knew where my splits should be. And I had a goal of running 26.2 miles in 4 hours and 30 mins. I, for the first time, was a proper goal setter (more on this later.)

3. Run your race: There is a tendency in life to compare yourself to other people. When you do that, I think you loose sight of what your true goals are in life. You are living for them, not for you. This is true in a marathon, as well as an MBA. It may or may not surprise you how many 70 year old ladies could beat you in a foot race. First instinct is always that you should be faster then them, so you speed up. Then you realize you are out of your race, running a pace you can't keep. And when you slow down, guess you goes right on past? And the hardest time to control your race? The start. It is a great way to make the next 25 miles more difficult. At MBS, knowing why you are here is key. That means doing the things you are passionate about, not things other people are passionate about. It is easy to get pulled into a club you have no interested into because it sounded like a cool idea when 2012 described it. With so much activities, and so much excitement about starting my MBA, I have already had to step back and think about everything I am doing. Why am I doing this, will it help me? You know, those difficult questions only you, not other people, really know the answer too.

4. Expect the unexpected: Liverpool tried to throw every obstacle in our way. The race started 50 minutes late. There was lots of wind. As a runner, it always seems the wind is in your face, and never at your back. And always on a uphill! And of course there was rain. What would a English marathon be without a little bit of rain. But the biggest challenge was the course. We looked at the course and elevation map. But what none of us saw was the hill we would have to run up. For about 5 kms, we were climbing. Now any runner knows, even a slight incline is a challange. I wish I could say this was slight. Or short. We were not expecting it. The MBA is going to throw many challenges at everyone over the next 18 months. Last minute meetings, balance sheets, cash flows, marketing projects, demanding clients, etc. There is always something to do. And if there is not, wait 10 minutes, that will change. You just have to expect that something will come, the unexpected.

5. Always move forward: I'll admit it. I had to walk. After the hill, my legs were shot. My pace was where I wanted to be, but my hill training was not. It was a bad time for my body. But not my mind. I never stopped moving forward. I had the goal in sight (well, not quite insight, but about 12 miles away!) I had committed to finishing my marathon. I threw my time out the window. All I could think about was finishing. And how I would train for my next marathon better. And this blog. But mostly finishing. This correlation to the MBA is the easiest. We will have classes we don't like, groups we hate, things we don't get, and meetings we don't want to go to. Every challenge will be there, on good days and more on bad. But the key is to always keep moving forward. Think about where you are going more than where you came from.

6. Even in failure, there is still success: Thomas Edison was asked how it felt to fail at inventing the light bulb 10000 times, before his eventual success. His response?  " I have not failed. I've just found 10000 ways that won't work." You can't be afraid in failure, as 'failure' teaches us the best lessons. And as long as you can learn, you didn't fail. You had a great chance to practice again. I was inspired by another MBA blogger, talking about this same subject. He failed a class, went back, studied harder, and came back and passed it some 9 months later. The most inspiring thing about something like that? Not the failure, no one will remember that. But the completion and the resolve to get it done. I ran my marathon in 4:51:03. You could say I failed by 21:03. I will correct you. I succeeded by 26.2 miles.

7. A group is stronger than one: I had so much support on my marathon. I couldn't have done it without them. From Andre and Maanas to convincing my to sign up, to training runs with Rafael. Vassil, who was running another marathon yesterday, was always seeing how I was doing with my training. I had a team, we were accountable for each other. But more than that, everyone in class was supportive. So was everyone back home. This blog would go on for days if I tried to list them all, but thank you to all! I drew energy from the support (A extra special shout to Sana and Joao for making the trip out to Liverpool on race day!) There were over 600 volunteers on race day, handing out water, guiding us on the route. And thousands and thousands of more fans, cheering on complete strangers. Who knows how it would have been without them. I am here at MBS, not to compete with my colleagues, but to succeed with them. Not to compare, but to learn. I won't be a better business man without their help. I won't be a better person. 

And this list can keep going. There are so many correlations you can get from running a marathon to grad school. Both are time consuming. Most people wouldn't consider either. If you do it for the right reasons, and do it for yourself, you will become a better person for it. It will challenge you more than anything ever has before in your life. In 18 months, I will be looking back at my accomplishments. Graduation day. And I hope I am thinking to myself, I just completed one of the hardest things I have ever done. For as they say, It's not a sprint, It's a marathon.

Rhythm and Flow

Don't worry, even though the title is Rhythm and Flow, I am not going to turn into a white rapper. We all know that would end bad. I'll leave that job to Eminem. But I do want to talk about Rhythm and Flow. It isn't a new topic by any means. I did not have an epiphany. If anything you know as much about it as I do, or the next guy.

I read a book earlier this year (and yes, it wasn't just pictures!) by Daniel Pink called Drive. The book is about what motivates people. It is a fascinating look into why the old carrot and stick method is not good for any hire level job - one that involved thinking. More so people are driven to be better, work harder, and be smarter. You don't have to pay them more, you just, a lot of times, have to get out of their way. If you are interested in human behavior, or management, I suggest reading this book. If you are not, at a minimum, click on the attached link, with a great (and entertainingly done) summary. http://youtu.be/u6XAPnuFjJc

While Daniel Pink called this concept in his book Rhythm or Flow (he used them a bit interchangeable), it is a well known concept. Stella called it her groove, and spent two hours trying to get it back. Austin Powers went on a time traveling search for his mojo. NBA Jams (yea, I just went back to 1992) players 'caught on fire.' There are so many examples, of this essence, this mood, this attitude. Have you ever woken up and just had a bad day? I bet you didn't feel like you had your rhythm and flow.

Which brings us to the question, why am I talking about this? Because, to me, this is a huge factor for success. It is all about finding a comfort in your life. Not living a comfortable life, but finding a comfort. I don't mean having a lot of money, or having a big house. I mean loving what you do. Having comfort in your actions, your being, your purpose.

I have been gainfully unemployed for 2 months now, and spent over half that time sitting back into the classroom. Most days I head to school at 9, am there until 7 or 8, then have more studies and reading to do at home. I am still trying to figure out the path to success in my MBA (not survive, but succeed), and I have a good start. And that is to develop my rhythm and flow. And yes, it can be developed. It can be changed, It is simply a mental state. It is about not only accepting the task in front of you, but being excited about the learning opportunity and the challenges presented. It is about managing your work load, budgeting your time, and finding that balance in your life.

I am using the same thoughts to run my marathon. Finding the time to run, finding the motivation to keep going after 20km, and just pushing through it. You know when you are out of your rhythm and flow. When you wake up on the wrong side of the bed. People have their bad days and good. The key is to maximize the good days, by controlling your rhythm and flow.

On a side note, my computer was in the repair shop for the last month getting a new screen, which unsurprisingly disrupted my Rhythm and Flow (and gave me some time to think about the concept and adapt to a new one.) But now that I have it back, I hope to get back to writing my updates weekly/biweekly. As always, thank you for reading, feed back is appreciated, and let me know if there is anything you want to hear about specifically!

Into the Deep End

I have been struggling for find the words to write this latest entry (as shocking as it may be, as I never seem to shut up!) At first it was easy, I didn't have much to do, and had so much going on. Everything was fun, there was no alarm set for the mornings. I could go run, drink, play and anything else I wanted. I knew that would not last.

The Manchester MBA starts with a Pre-MBA, or as the seniors (2012 batch) tell us, "A time to party, cuz you won't be busy yet!" The skills are a refresher for some, and brand new for many others. Pretty much, we are cramming a semesters worth of accounting into 4 classes, learning how to work on consultancy skills, learning presentation skills, and any thing else that we may or may not need to help us over the next 18 months. After the "easy" month, the actual MBA program will start. Only if the Pre-MBA were easy.

Now, the learning side (aside from the chapters about chapters of the 7(so far) text books we have received) has not been too bad at all. Some of it I fight to stay awake, but most of it I am enjoying. But the challenge is the amount of information we are receiving right now. Class starts at 9 am, and we have four 1 hour 30 minute sessions every day (this is how the term will look when we start in 2 more weeks.) Then after that, we tend to have a presentation from an external speaker, or a group project, or another group project, or more reading to do. It seems that being at school from 9am - 9pm is going to be the norm for the next bit of time in my life. But as I have said before, I am excited for that!

I came here to challenge myself. In every aspect of the word. I came here to prove to myself that I can succeed in the academic world. High school and college were about doing enough to get bye. This is about doing more than that, and then more than that. I know I am not as smart as a lot of the people here. I have already seen the millions of ways I would have never thought to solve a problem come up. I have so much to learn from the 114 other colleagues that are going on this journey as well. And it is an amazing bunch to learn from, I can already tell that.

For me, my path to success is a simple one. When you get an MBA, you don't really talk about your GPA, or anything of the sort. You simply state, I got one, and look where it is from! This school is ranked well! I'm a good hire! But ultimately, everyone has a goal of passing, otherwise they wouldn't be here. I know I will pass, simply because when I accomplish my goal, it will never be in doubt. All I am trying to do, as simple as it sounds, is work harder than my Indians friend sitting next to me in class, or the Brazilians and Peruvians and everyone else in the room. And I hope they have the same goal! If I put in the effort, and work harder than I have every worked before - which I can already tell, I will have to - I should be just fine. This is the way I am going to learn, better myself, and prepare for the next stage of my life.

I am excited to do this with my colleagues though. While I want to work harder than them, I also want to work with them, learn from them, and hopefully share some of my views/opinions/thoughts/experiences. And hopefully they can learn from that too. Now I recognize not all here, or in the world, feel that way. And neither of us are wrong in our views. I know what works for me, and they, I can only imagine, know what works for them. At the end of the program, we will embark on a 3 month international business project. I have already started identifying the people I am not as keen to work with. Not because they are not smart, but because of how they work. I hope to find, or be asked on a team, that values working together, and with a shared passion, and we will kick major ass in the project.

I found myself getting frustrated at some of our early project meetings. It seemed that we were spinning our wheels, and time is not an asset we can afford to waste. But when I got away from the meetings, I realized I was a big part of the problem. While I was hearing what people said, I wasn't listening. In the next meeting, after starting to get frustrated, I sat back, and calmly asked the most basic question - why? Why do you think that? Why should we include that? Just simply, Why? Turns out we had been talking about the same, or similar ideas. But I never took the chance to listen. I just heard what they said, in a second language, not what they meant. I am damn happy I realized that early on!

We have been fortunate enough to have a lot of exposure, guidance and advice from the seniors, and even other alumni. If anyone else is ever embarking on a journey of the sort, my one peace of advice is listen very carefully to what they say is helpful, and ignore any negative. I have heard from so many people about 'How to Survive my MBA.' But that answers the wrong question. I want to know 'How to Enhance my MBA.' We all knew this would be a challenge, telling me so isn't going to make it different. I want to know that it is a good idea to establish set ending times for the meetings, not that they go on all night. I want to know how to get the most out of the clubs I join, not how to fit them into my schedule. I know I will work hard, I want to know how to organize myself, how to plan better, time management. But that message, unfortunately, does not seem to be the one I have heard as much. I know it is going to be hard, but don't try to damage my spirits before I have even started.

Part of enhancing my MBA is going to be the things I do outside of the classroom. I have already been playing football (soccer), plan on joining some clubs, act as a student ambassador for those wanting to follow in our footsteps, and anything else that frankly, interest me to some degree. Next April we will be traveling to Paris for a sports competition weekend with top B-Schools across Europe. We have different theme nights, poker club, and what seems like anything else you could think of. And I want to do it all! Well, as much as I have time for.

With that being said, this post will most likely be one of the more interesting ones to look back and read in 18 months time. I have barely dipped my toe into the water. But the pool is deep, and it is getting close for time to jump in. But I can swim. I have my floaties - enthusiasm, passion, everything put into my calendar, all homework assignments mapped out and a focus on time management. From what I can tell, from talking to classmates, these are the tools, not to survive, but to succeed, and enhance and MBA. Maybe it is naivety talking, maybe not, but either way, I am ready for the challenge.

From Consumer to non-consumer

The last 2 and a half weeks have been quite exciting. During that short amount of time, I have already learned quite a bit about myself, as well as from many of my new colleagues. I hesitate to call them classmates, because while we are all here for school, we are here for a much bigger purpose. Saying classmates, students or anything to the like does not recognize the attitude we are all coming in with, and more importantly, the amount of work and dedication we are going to put into over the next 18 months. I can already tell, these are colleagues I will have for the rest of my life, no matter what industry in what ever part of the world we end up in.

But as promised, here is my last update before school starts! At 9:00 am tomorrow morning, we will all be excitedly heading towards the doors of MBS to get started on our journey! So on to what I have learned so far:

Running is an amazing way to adapt to a new situation. I had been talking about running a marathon for quite some time, but never was able to fully commit. I always said, let me train first, then see how I feel. But then I wouldn't have the discipline to train the way I needed to. I decided that when I got my visa sorted out, I would sign up for the Manchester Marathon in Nov. Everything was to be perfect, plenty of time to train, running the race in a new city. I even got a colleague from Brazil (Andre) interested in the race. Thankfully, though, neither of us signed up for the race. Turns out, it was a great race, had I planned to move to Manchester, NH, USA! Dang, those plans went right out the window. Back to the vortex, wait till I was properly trained, but not training enough!

Right before I was getting ready to leave, I received a message encouraging me to sign up for the Liverpool Marathon with 2 other colleagues (Andre and Maanas, from India.) The time frame was a bit shorter, but I was naive enough to agree to a race less than 10 weeks away! We were even able to convince another from Brazil, Rafael to run with us. Yet I still didn't start training, figuring I would start in Manchester.

My 1st run in Manchester was a short 16 km, and all my hopes and dreams of finishing the race in a decent time were destroyed one overcast sat morning. At that point, It was a matter of holding on for dear life for 42 kms of missery with the hope of finishing the race! But thanks to Rafael's training plan, some other research on training plans, and quite a bit of dedication, I easily cruised through 25 km this weekend, and am back believing in my ability to finish in 4:30. (Note: a great marathoner will finish in less than half that time! But 4:30 averages out to just under 10 mins a mile, for 26 miles, and I'll proudly take that!)

My runs here have been amazing. You can't find much better running weather, it doesn't get too hot, normally a nice breeze to cool you off. The humidity is there, but that is by far from the biggest challenge Manchester runners face (what few there actually are.) While I have enjoyed my exploratory runs - where I can just run about the city looking at everything (with the aid of a gps watch for distance) - trying to dodge the cars that could care less how many kms you have gone and the hoards of business people trying to get home is less than ideal. So far the only true running place I have found, besides parks that back home in CO would have no attention paid to them because they are so small, is a canal running from the south part of the city out west. The only problem is the canal is essentially a single track trail with barely any room to pass other runners, and geese that are less interested in your run than the businessmen are, and more than willing to stand in your way and hiss as you try to tip toe around them. At 1st I was suprised to see no runners, but after a few runs, I can clearly see why, and am thankful for that fact.

Running puts me at amazing piece. I use to run to finish, so focused on where I would end up, and not about the solitude I should have been enjoying. I imagine that is why I got away from running for so long. Even when I wanted to start back up, at several times, injury and lack of enjoyment completely derailed me. If you are at all interested in running, I encourage you to read the book "Born to Run", by Christopher McDougall. It completely reshaped my thoughts on running, and gave me needed advice on how to properly run without injuries! You may find the freedom and love for 2 hours at a time, with nothing but you, your thoughts and your headphones(a runners must for their play list - Eye of the Tiger!)

Running also helps counter affect and unintended consequence if you will of moving to a new city. Being one of the early birds, I had quite a bit of time to get settled down and know the city. I have also had quite a bit of time to get to know the local pubs, bars and clubs of Manchester. You see, with the excitement of moving to a new city, making new friends, the natural thing to do was to get to know each other over drinks. At first, our group was small, we had some from a summer programme that were able to show us new 10 or so folks around. But then the following day a few more showed up, and then a few more. It seemed like every other day there was a new level of excitement, and more people who wanted to go celebrate and get to know each other! One thing is for sure, beer is a common language for the entire world! In the social settings, I have been able to learn about so many of my colleagues, and hopefully likewise to them. The nice (and sometimes dangerous thing) is that the later in the night, the more people are willing to open up! Who would have thought!?!?! But all good things must come to an end, I am quite excited to have a daily purpose with classes, and the beer meetings will be strictly a weekend thing, when I don't have any other projects to be working on (and yes mom and dad, I mean that!)

The last big thing to cover is reflected in my title. Back home I was what you could call a consumer. I was fortunate enough (and did it sometimes when I wasn't) to enjoy some luxuries in life. I could have the upgraded tv package, buy the clothes I wanted, not needed, and go out to dinner whenever I felt like it. I had no problem doing my part to stimulate the local Denver economy. I was set. Until I quit my job. I went from having a steady income stream, not having to worry about a budger to living, not of a budget, but a lump of money to last me for the next 18 months. No longer can I buy what I want (except that whole iPhone thing, but I really really wanted that!- As you can see I am not totally ready to make the switch!)

One of my big issues with the new apartment was a lack of TV. I have never in my life lived without a TV close to watch when ever I wanted to. So simply, I was just going to buy one, then a license on top of that. But thankfully I didn't, and the last week with no TV shockingly hasn't been bad at all! I am reading more,  getting prepared for my studies, and getting out of the house. When the MBA starts, I'll have even less time! There is hope for me yet!

I have also taken to liking the local store brand - Asda - for many of my groceries. Back home I had a mental road block that I would never do such a thing. I think it even effected my taste buds when I was brave enough to try! But living on a pile of money, and needing to make it last, I have found amazing deals and cheap meals, and quite tasty to boot. It is funny how in one country I was too good for something, and now, can't seem to get enough. I have to remind myself only to buy enough food for just the week, so I don't let much go to waste. And thankfully, the cost of food here is actually a little less than Denver, so that should be a big big help too!

Well as always, I hope that gives you a little insight to what is going on here in Manchester. I am excited for school to start tomorrow, and more excited for the next 18 months of my life. As many of the 2012 MBAs have relayed on to us, we will work harder than most ever have in their life, sleep less, yet still have one of the best times of our life. And I am looking forward to it!

On a side note, if you made it this far, once again, thank you! I know I said my 1st one was my only long post, but turns out I can ramble a little bit. Who knew? I love you all and thank you for letting me share my thoughts and experience with you!

The difficulties of starting anew

Now that I have been in Manchester, my new home, for over 2 weeks, I figure it only appropriate for an update of how things have gone so far. Aside from the emotional side of things, which like everything, tend to get better, or more so put into proper perspective, with time, starting a new life is fucking hard! We were warned about many things that would take time to get ready, but when you are full of anxiety, the difficulties seem about 1000 times greater than you would have expected. But looking back, within two weeks, I have all but fully settled. Manchester is my home now, and I couldn't have made a better choice. The only thing left is to start classes, which for the 1st time in my life, I am counting down the days in excitement! (Next tues, for those keeping score.)

Finding a flat was relatively easy for me. My flatmate is a guy called Alex, from Russia. We had been able to talk a bit before arriving through the wonders of facebook, and it turns out, he, like me had already considered me as someone he can, in the best case, become close friends, and worstly, put up with for the next year. In all seriousness, he is a great guy, and I am honored to be able to share my journey with him in such close proximity. He actually had set up 2 places for us to look at the week I arrived. After walking about 15 mins from campus to the 1st one, although I liked the set up, I quickly reanalyzed my minimum walking distance from class! If I am going to do this everyday, no more than 10 min tops! (I am sure that extra sleep will come in handy, and I'll be thankful during the winter months!) The 2nd place seemed more promising based on location, but all I new was it was 5 minutes from campus. Oh please let me like it! Please let this work out!

We walked in the place, the current tenats were getting ready to move out, but they were kind enough to give us a look around. The landlord use to live here, and wants to move back next summer, but she is working in Brussels for now. This wasn't your normal student flat. I knew instantly, this was the place I wanted to live.

Finding a flat in Manchester can be quite difficult. We were all told stories of people finding one, only to have another tenant snatch it out from underneath there grasp. Quickly, we called the landlord, and told her we were ready to move in. Since she plans to move back to the place next year, she obviously wanted to meet us 1st(She had already had her trip home planned.) She was kind enough to meet on Sat, and within about 5 mins, approved us as her new renters! As it turns out, because the current tenants were on vacation, no one was able to even see the flat before us, and there were another 10 booked to look at it the following week. I hope their house hunting turned for the better! Pretty standard in terms of 2 bedrooms, one bath, nice kitchen, living room, and washer (but no drier, I guess you can't win them all!) And just like that, my biggest concern, where the hell am I going to live, was resolved.

The lack of drier concerned me at 1st. I mean, I have had one in every place I have lived as long as I have known. I guess I would learn how the other side did laundry. Alex for one, hasn't used a drier in many years. And I'll tell you, it's not all that bad. Clothes take a little bit to dry, but not a life inconvenience. It is easy enough to do, so I should be all right!

I waited a couple of nights to move in, solely because I did not have internet set up. The plan was to get a phone, and use the unlimited phone for my internet, something that doesn't seem like it has been allowed in the US, although would be incredibly popular! But to get a phone, I needed a bank account set up. That takes a week. Not to set up,that took a day, but to get the debit card to access any of your money. So after, hopefully nicely, bugging the front desk every morning with the mail delivery, I finally got my debit card. On a side note, from my experiences, and from talking to some of the brits, England is not a very service oriented country. I would ask if I had mail, and would be told it isn't sorted yet. Well how long, couple of hours. Then a friend would have the same conversation with the same couple of hour timeline, a couple of hours later. Thankfully, they were helpful enough when I asked if I could just look through the mail, since this was really important.

So with a bank card, I was off to get my phone. 3 years ago, I jumped on a Verizon contract, and since they didn't have an iPhone available, I chose Blackberry's answer, the storm. It was going to be great, until it wasn't. You see, RIM made the huge mistake of not letting third parties develop apps for them, so the exciting new appstore turned out over priced and under stocked. After 1 year, no problem, get an iPhone on my 2 year upgrade, since they were becoming available. But then I went off and got accepted to school, so that pushed back any sort of phone upgrade. For 2 years, I wanted an iPhone. And now I could get one. Or so I thought.

Since the phone is expensive, it amounts to a loan from the phone company, which you pay back a little each month on your contract (about 10 gbp over service when you don't have to buy a phone.) And since I had only lived in England for 10 days at this point, I didn't have much credit to rely on. This was the 1st time, and hopefully last, I didn't pass a credit check. So my options, buy the phone outright, or get another contract on another phone that doesn't cost as much. And I was about to do this. But then I remembered it was a 24 month contract (240 pounds), plus 70 more for the phone. And also, I might not live here next year, or might take an internship someplace else. And the iPhone comes unlocked, so I could use it in the US. And I really wanted an iPhone. So now I have an iPhone!

We have become so dependent on technology these days. For the 1st week, I had what amounts to a "burner" phone, cheap, pay as you go, holds me over. No internet, no email, no nothing except calling and texting. This wasn't enough to make me feel like I belonged here, lived here, and am starting the next stage of my life here. It is a little sad and superficial that an iPhone (or any smart phone, depending on what you like) can help bridge that gap. And with our forget about the consumer, you can only use the phone you pay 200 bucks for on our network, US cell phone services, it would not have been possible to use my old smart phone, which I hated anyways. (Everyone else, from India, Peru, Chile, Brazil, Russia, etc. were able to just plop in a new sim, oh the Joys of an unlocked phone!!) Way to go phone companies, continue to find ways to trap your customers, instead of providing a level of service where they wouldn't want to leave.

It retrospect, in under 2 weeks, I found an flat, set up a bank account, got the phone I wanted, and am well off on the next stage of my life. As I sit here and type this, looking back, It was quite easy to get established in a new country. But going through the emotions and stress while you are doing it, that never seemed the case!

Other than that, life has been really good. I have settled down greatly on the emotional side, with the help from my new friend here, and my friends back home. Everyone has been amazing, thanks for all those that have taken the time to read this and drop a line to me. You all are the best.

I will write more this weekend on what I have been doing, how running is an amazing (and sometimes scary!) thing for me, and how beer brings the world together. In the mean time (and this will probably happen more than once cuz she is so amazing!) a special shout out and congrats goes to Kathryn. Not only has she put up with me, encouraged me to go on this adventure, but just got an amazing new job! That girl is quickly on her way to impressing the world!

Love you all, and as always, thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts and join me on my journey!

My trip to the land of Yobs

Now that you know why I am here and writing, it only seems appropriate that I tell about my experiences so far! This could be broken down into several different blogs, but I am not going to do that. There have been plenty of things I have wanted to write about, and at this time, it just seems like a waste to break them up and not get caught up to speed right away. So hang in there this one time, because I fully plan to write more often when I have something to say, and not let a group of things pile up to tell at once. I hope you are brave enough to make it all the way through!

-----Warning, sappy areas ahead----------

So I guess the most logical place to start is the end of the last chapter. After working at Jackson for 4.5 years, it was time to say goodbye. I thought I would sneak out the side doors a couple of hours early (Sorry boss-men!) and think nothing of it. I would go about my life, and my former coworkers theirs. Turns out that was no where near the case! I feel awful for the people I would have loved to say goodbye to and was not able to, but after 4 hours of walking around, I was getting emotionally tired! I never realized how much people at work meant to me, and and thankful that they were nice enough to entertain me for a couple of minutes so I felt like I meant something too! There are too many people to throw special thank yous out to, but pretty much, I am so fortunate for the start of my career. It is said, you never want to leave a job to get away, but move to a new opportunity for the future. And that was completely the case! And all of this is for all partners down in FL as well! I have become many of your facebook friends (if not, look me up), or you got this through e-mail, and as cliche as it is to say, I do hope we can keep in touch! I am more than happy to assist in any way I can in the future (which of course, for a lot of you with more experience, that seems very unlikely!)

So after finally leaving the building for the last time, I was off for a week of packing, then unpacking and repacking (5 times!) I got some last rounds of golf in, shipped my clubs, and finally settled on 2 bags to carry over. Everything seemed to be falling in place, and the excitement was mounting. My flight left Denver last Tues, Aug 9th. And just as I am getting ready to leave, I notice the news reports. Awesome, the riots in London have somehow spread 200 miles away to Manchester! WHAT THE HELL HAVE I GOT MYSELF INTO?!?!?! From the sounds of the coverage, I would be lucky if there was still a city standing when I arrived the following day! Things were about to get real interesting - more on this later.

So I get on the 1st leg, flying from Denver to Newark. Should be a simple 4 hour flight, everything scheduled to be on time. But when they started boarding us, I noticed something different. Now I have flown a fair bit in my life, and know how long it takes to board a plane. I also try to avoid sitting towards the back of the plane, but in this case, it was the only aisle seat available when I booked. So boarding the plane was miserable. I have never seen a group of such inconsiderate people in my life! Now, I don't think they woke up in the morning thinking, I want to try to make the plane as late as possible by being completely clueless on etiquett about how to get on a plane, quickly and properly store my bags, and get in my seat so I don't hold up the other 200 passengers trying to get someplace. This forshadowed the events to follow. I understand people have to use the bathroom on a long flight. I do too. But what I don't understand is how you think it is appropriate to line up in the narrow ass rows, 4 people deep, hovering over a group of passengers who paid just as much money for a ticket as you did. I can't tell you how many, but for nearly 3 hours, I had someones elbow, hand or ass brushing my shoulder and invading my personal space. At one point the fasten seat belt sign came on. My excitement from a break of rando's watching my movie (Kings Speech - even with the distractions - still a really good movie) over my shoulder while you wait to use the bathroom a 2nd time was quickly turned into more of the same. Apparently, people are more important than the fasten seatbelt sign these days too!

And that brings me to my 1st bit of social commentary. What the hell happened to us?!?!??! Remember a time when people actually respected and attempted to be aware of their common wo/man? Once again, I don't think it was anything done to intentionally upset me or any of the other passengers stuck in the back of the plane, but I was just absolutely astonished about peoples lack of consideration and respect for fellow passengers what to me, seems like basic plane etiquette! How can we expect congress, our states, our business, our relationships to continue to grow when we can't think about how our actions affect someone trying to watch a movie while traveling! Something has to change!

So Newark was an easy change over, after making sure I went to the bathroom twice (no waiting in the aisle for me) and a 2 hour delay, I was on the plane to Manchester, with a little bit of faith restored in humanity. This flight seemed much better, people helping each other store their luggage, smiles on faces. Good to know not everyone has gone down hill! An easy flight later, I was finally in Manchester.

After getting settled, well as much as you can into my temporary accommodation, I was able to meet up with another American who had arrived a few hours earlier, and from there our numbers just started growing. Each day, more and more students are arriving, soon to be 116 total! It is fun being on the early side, because we have been able to meet people over a time period, instead a group of 20 all at once.  (Can you imagine trying to remember 115 names all at once!)

The city of Manchester is BEAUTIFUL! I really like it a lot. Thankfully, a few, as the newspapers calls them, Yobs, did not ruin the city for the rest of us. It is a unique mix of old and new. Lots of history and architecture. Lots of new glass buildings. All right next to each other, as you can see! (editors note, i don't know how to work this, so I hope it comes out the way intended. For all of my pictures, please visit http://joshnewell.shutterfly.com)

The city is almost in an identity crisis. Does it want to keep its old, Northern England small town charm, or grow up into a larger metropolitan and modern city. A lot like Denver in a lot of ways, just with more history. The people are all amazing (except for those Yobs), most of which I have been in interact were generally embarrassed about what had happened just a few nights before. The one sad area, is the fact it is very dirty. A lot of trash on the grounds, and its not getting better so I don't think it is because of the riots. There are no trash cans any where in public - maybe a correlation? And don't worry - Manchester has a ....

FERRIS WHEEL!!!

While I was not suprised riots happened (I'm looking at you CSU students, 2003,2004,2005 ect..) I was astonished on several things about them. 1st, the riots in Manchester had NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING other than kids, young adults and fake adults (you know, people of age that still act like jackasses) wanting to loot and pillage. Maybe a little entitlement showing it's ugly face? Number 2, at least in Manchester, it wasn't that bad. Once again, it's all about perspective. But a few smashed up windows, some stolen goods, sounds like a NBA Championship/World Series/Super Bowl/5 v 5 community basketball title celebration. I mean, as Americans, we riot for anything. Maybe they wanted theirs too? Number 3 - if you do something bad, you are called a Yob, and everyone will know about it. I wasn't able to get a picture, but they had a billboard driving around town (back of a truck, not an actual billboard driving) with people's faces. And not like Boulder 420 fest, where cops reward you for ratting your friends. Nope, parents took their kids to the police, friends turned in their roommates, if you were guilty, you weren't safe. Every day, the newspaper has what can best be described as a scoreboard recap. Name, age, what yobbish thing you did, and your sentence. Finally, the justice here is swift and severe. 2 guys posted a meet up place on facebook to go riot. For that - they each got 4 years. A mom, who took a pair of stolen shorts from her roommate. She did not participate, just received one single pair of shorts - well she will be spending the next 6 months away from her kid. Stole a pack of gum? 8 months. 2 bottles of Booze? That'll cost you the next 1.5 years (while these aren't the exact sentences, they are not very far from what the punishments actually are). In the US, this would NEVER fly. It is quite interesting to think about, caught with a unlicensed firearm Plaxico Buress? Welp you will never see the light of day again. Could severe punishment serve as a deterrent? For the record, I don't think it would work, but interesting to see how different cultures deal with social issues. Just food for thought...


The honeymoon of moving to Mancheseter lasted for about a day. And then a funny thing happened. I got sad. Like really really sad. My body was jet lagged, I was, and still am sleeping in a single bed (haven't done that since college), and I just laid in bed late at night. Was this the right decision? I left an amazing job, my family, an amazing girlfriend, great friends, my grandma, and frankly a pretty kick ass life. To just push reset - restart life with a large debt and hope for the best. What the hell was I thinking? I felt isolated, alone and lost. You see, when I was leaving Denver, I never had to confront these issues. I had Manchester to look forward too! An amazing, life changing experience. I knew it wasn't going to be easy, but damn, it wasn't suppose to be this hard. Even today, I still feel completely unsettled. Simple things, like having a smart phone, take time to get set up. I have a bank account, and pin numbers for my debit cards, but no debit cards yet. I have a place to live, yet and still in the single bed because I can get online and still have contact with friends back home here. I am still in the transition. So the 1st several nights were hard. The people are great, and we would go for drinks and have a good laugh, only to return at night to the solitude. But thankfully, it is getting better. Kathryn has been amazing in helping me through this. My mom and Mike, as well as everyone I have talked to back home as well. It took me some time to embrace the difficulties of the next 18 months. I told everyone that it was another journey, that anyone could come along with. And evolution, not a reset. But I didn't see that the 1st couple of days. I was alone. I imagine this feeling is a bit natural for all of us moving over here, and have been able to connect with a couple of peers that were going through the same things. But it doesn't make it any bit easier. (That is part of the reason I would love to hear from everyone!!!)

I am so lucky that Kathryn has been, is and will be in my life for a long long time. She helped me adjust to that, and realize, as crazy as this adventure will be, and yes, it will be, that the Manchester MBA is where I am suppose to be. I have already started studying, excited for class to start (bet my parents wished I was like that through school and my undergrad!), and ready to kick every challanges ass on the way to the end. When I look back in a couple of years, and I will have an amazing experience to reflect on, and really, in the grand scheme of things, it's only 18 months (or at least that is what I keep telling myself!) But until then, I will live it the adventure, each and every day. I will share my experiences with anyone wanting to listen. Hopefully this will inspire you, or get you to think about something in a different manner, or even be something you can learn a little from. And that is why, I remembered what I forgot for the 1st couple of days, that this is truly A Shared Journey. I love you all and can't wait to hear from you!

The start of the Journey

I have been thinking about starting a blog for quite some time now, but I never did get around to it until now. There was always one question in the back of my mind - would anyone read it? Does anyone care enough about my thoughts and opinions to justify the time it would take? I like to believe what I had to say would have been interesting, but I didn't have a good story to tell with it.

And then I moved to Manchester...

 And that is my goal of this blog, is to tell a story around my opinions and experiences over the next 2 years, and beyond. The only promise I will make to anyone reading is that I will always be truthful in what I write. If life is good, then you will hear about that. If say I arrived in a new city and had a bit of a breakdown due to missing everyone back home, you will hear about that(more to come on that later). You may not like some of my views, and I may not like some of yours (I'm looking at you Sarah Palin...), but if I can do my part by trying to explain where I am coming from, and why I believe what I am saying, and how I am changing as a person, hopefully there will be something in there for you to connect with.

I was amazed as I was getting ready to leave Denver the amount of e-mails I was given to keep in touch. The next 2 years are unfortunately going to be entirely to busy to e-mail everyone individually, as much as I would love to. But through the powers of the internet, and popularity of this whole blogging revolution, I will be able to share my journey with you (hence the title of the blog). But I don't want this to be a one way street! Please, whether we hung out all the time, worked together or you happen across this website while procrastinating doing real work, let me know your thoughts on what I have to say. Ideally, I would like to help anyone grow as much as everyone has helped me grow. I would like to hear feedback, but only on one condition. It's got to be honest. If I am saying something stupid, misguided, or something you simply don't agree with (turns out I have a big mouth and strong opinions) - shoot me an e-mail, or leave a comment. If you don't understand what I am saying or what I mean, ask a question. Hopefully, we will both grow out of sharing our own views and learn where the other side is coming from. And if we can learn to do this tactfully, and learn to ask those questions of each other, and ourselves, I have no doubt in my mind everyone will be better off.

So that is my introduction, if you will, to everyone reading. And most importantly, my commitment to being honest, with you, and with myself. I want to make this blog about a lot of things, from opinions and discussions on current world events (what to do on a tues night, riot in Manchester! - idiots) and about my travels through the city, England, Europe, and the world, and my stuggles in class. I want it to be fun, serious, have a point, enjoyable for me to type, and just as importantly, enjoyable for you to read. If you have a particular question, or want my opinion on a topic, please let me know! Instead of posting my life story as my introduction, I think this will do better. I will rely, as I always have, quiet extensively on where I have been and what I have done, and continue to share those stories over the next couple of years. I just hope I continue to be interesting enough for everyone to continue to read.