I needed a chance to collect my thoughts, with so much crowding in in the holiday season, with work busier than ever, and with family holiday moments seizing the stage, one must remember why they do things - and what drives us forward in our careers. 

It is in this journey where you find the greatest relief, the greatest lessons, and the greatest outcomes and achievements.  Staffing isn't just about filling jobs, and having family isn't just about having relationships.  Families can take on numerous contexts - including those who care about you, those who know you, your work team, your spouse and children and extended loved ones - even your boss and colleagues, and church friends, synogogue, or mosque.

As we journey on and come to the end of an eventful year, as the political voices of another election season wane away, as the economic uncertainty and lessons of this past decade make clear: we are not alone in this world, nor do we need to feel fear of mistakes or even be intimidated by those tough requirements that build our character and remind us why it is we come to work each day.

As I reflect on some key moments, key victories, blessings, analyze my thankfulness, there are those few moments that come to mind and remind me who I am and why I do what I do.  Whether it is being the one who opens a door for another, whether it is getting that call from that hiring manager who is eternally thankful, whether it is coming to the end of a trully spectacular and remarkable week where fills and doors opened - one sits back and ponders.

There is that stack of resumes on my desk from a Comcast Career Fair.  There is the memories of internal HR partners who went to the ends of the earth to make the amazing happen.  There are those memories that are trully worth celebrating at this invariable amazing time of year.  It makes you step back and think how did I get here?  How did it all transpire?  When I had choices why did I make them?  There are those East Coast colleagues who made me sit back when they went through Hurricane Sandy and still managed a smile and helping hand even when their own circumstances might make them take pause.  There were moments in my new role with ADP, and moments with my old employer NetPolarity where I witnessed the true winds of change direct us to a new place, a new time, and new adventures along the path.  It is in this realm where the battle for your focus starts, where you must tread and find new goals.  Here is the moment of interesting transition.  The world beckons us to face our weakness, and turn them into strengths.  A few pivitol moments that will forever etch this year of 2012 into my epic memories of a time where I trully felt that I could make the incredible happen again.  As 2013 dawns it is a time to reflect on how we got here.  It is a time to say - yes I will make the incredible happen, again, and again, and again.  Let there be no mistake - we get back what we put in.  If our passion melds and shapes our direction - then one can truly make any outcome be what we desire to be.

There is a church hymn that basically says it all for me:

Ring Out, Wild Bells:

1. Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky, The flying cloud, the frosty light. The year is dying in the night; Ring out, wild bells, and let him die. The year is dying in the night; Ring out, wild bells, and let him die.

2. Ring out the old; ring in the new. Ring, happy bells, across the snow. The year is going; let him go. Ring out the false; ring in the true. The year is going; let him go. Ring out the false; ring in the true.

~Crawford Gates

And so I reflect on some key events that made this year truly one to remember and think on:

• It was the year I learned I would have my 3rd child.  Such a thing as having a new baby makes a man ponder the blessings of bringing a new life into this world.  With that coming in February one cannot help but be amazed at the gifts one gains from being responsible.  Everything I do affects my child and children.  And what a blessing they are.  Tyler, Brielle, and my wife Rebecca and our new baby coming soon - these are blessings one cherishes.
• It was the year where I had 10 placements in one month, and this in an agency environment.  It was a time where in May I sat back fulfilled having found some key revenue for my family when we needed it.
   
• It was the year where good colleagues came and went, where change rang true.  Where I moved from my home of 30+ years to take a new post with ADP in Utah.  Perhaps the best single decision of my career.
• It was the year where I left dearly beloved parents whom felt the pressure of that change.
• It was the year we moved closer to family in Utah - extended family who we love so much.
• It was the year where I needed to recertify on my PHR and got just enough credits to get that done.
• It was the year where the BYU Management Society - Silicon Valley Chapter group neared 1000 members when I helped start it 5 short years ago.
• It was the year where my staffing growth found new momentum, and new change caused me to come out of my comfort zone to become a better professional.
• It was the year I left one amazing work family to join another and yet even in the challenges that emerge from being a newbie in one role, where you went from being a senior staff member to a relative newcomer, the foundation was laid for the rest of a successful career.
• When dear friends helped you make the choices that lead to better strength, and where their encouragement helps you make a wise choice, this is when you find you still have that inner fire to make that right decision at the right moment that takes you to where you need to go.
• When you make an impact in one area, and find your still able to make an impact in another, even though those challenges are part of what makes you who you are - it is then you take a step back and say I get it now.
• It was the year I found a new home where I was more independent, able to find momentum on so many fronts, and take pride in providing better for my family.
• It's the year where I made the commitment that I would chip away at the economic maelstrom "one hire at a time".
• It's the year where I found more of my niche then I ever fathomed.
• It was the year I made some mistakes, yet still found out who I was when I emerged resilient and found success in interesting places.
• It was that year where I remembered as a proud father the accomplishments of my children - my daughter entering kindergarten and my son taking his first steps, and communicating more with my wife and I.
• It was the year where I surpassed 30+ LinkedIn Recommendations and neared 5000 direct LinkedIn Connections.
• Small victories obtained and large victories obtained.
• It was the year where we managed a move to a new state and still had all our items arrive safely and through the amazing efforts of my wife managed to get unpacked and relocated.
• It was the year we all passionately as voters chose our candidate and then same him/her win or lose, yet still democracy burns bright.
• We see the hope of a new year before us.

The new year with all it's promise reminds us what to be grateful for.  As I come to the end of a trully profound week, one must hold true to the inward resolve to keep driving towards one's goals.  Only then can one's capabilities be truly realized, and our victories become supernal to the direction we have inwardly envisioned.

Whether it was achieving some inward semblance of accomplishment in family, or church, or in career - in the staffing sense securing that difficult fill with the heartfelt satisfaction that in spite of every challenge the victory goes to one who keeps their focus in spite of the moments where it may feel overwhelming and keeps pushing forward even when life adds a pitfall or two to be encountered.  It is even then that the New Year beckons for us to be stronger, even more passionate and vigilant.

When the moments come that push you to your zenith, when life gives it's moments that one can't but help to feel overwhelmed yet still inwardly pushes forth with all their might and strength to secure bright outcomes that make the potential hires come faster and with more frequency, these are those times I remember most.

As I close this blog tonight with all of these thoughts inwardly proving to me that I have a foundation built for a prosperous and hopeful 2013 - it is then I sit back and say with complete satisfaction -

Ring out wild bells, Ring out wide and true, the old dies out, and so bring on the new.

May this 2013 New Year and this 2012 Holiday Season hopefully be the best yet on your own journey.

With that - signing off from Utah for the final 3 week push to close out the year with untold passion, grit, and determination to fill even the most difficult jobs with faith and determination to see it done.

When the unforeseen whirlwinds, and challenges emerge it is that time when your own sense of inward fire can be rekindled.  The New Year is a time of celebration and a time to show courage.

In such courage resides the stuff of great careers, and great personal goals, in professional, and familial life.

That's the hope the New Year brings, and the reflections on the current year and what it means to a hopeful future.

That's something we can all look forward to.

Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year.