Bernard Vukas

My Annual Review: 2011

Sun, 01 Jan 2012 05:14:00 -0800

I would like to thank oDesk C.E.O Gary Swart for his endorsement on oDesk's blog:

Full story is available in "Thanks For A Great Year, oDeskers!"

Last year was huge for me. I started the year 2011 in Bangkok in a wild way: I had just increased my oDesk hourly fees to $100/hr and left Croatia to see if it was possible to live the digital nomad lifestyle. I was influenced by two books: “The Art of Non-Conformity” by Chris Guillebeau, and “The Four Hour Workweek” by Tim Ferris. When I left Zagreb, I was already in my third year of being unemployed locally, and working full-time on oDesk. I am still not looking for work in Croatia, and I discourage anyone anytime from working locally. Freelancing is a vital component of being location independent and being able to travel, earning a good living and still having enough time to explore life and do what you love.

Greatest things that happened to me last year

I got to replace the cold Winter in Europe with Summer in Thailand, in duration of 6 months! Bangkok was unforgettable: the nightlife, great food, great CouchSurfing friends.
I got to travel to Bangladesh for the Freelancing Conference and eASiA ICT event, and I got to meet with a community of freelancers and I absolutely loved it!
I learned that I’ll be featured in an upcoming book by Chris Guillebeau as unconventional entrepreneur. The book is coming out in May on Random House.
Got to fly to Philippines and Bangladesh for free!

I am most proud of these accomplishments

Receiving recognition from the community of freelancers in Bangladesh for my work.
I was able to maintain my hourly rate on oDesk of $100/hr for one year, and keep customers happy.
I was able to keep up with my workout schedule consisting of Beachbody hybrids (P90X and Insanity).

Greatest lessons I learned last year

How to get awesome contracts and work remotely by using oDesk
How to get free airline tickets and travel anywhere
CouchSurfing!

Goals I want to achieve this year

Identify and hire key members for Officeworks, a start-up that I'm launching
Maximize sales on oDesk, and repeat my success on Elance
Automate my finances as advised by Ramit Sethi in "Building a Bullet-Proof Financial System"
Travel to Australia
Finish one round (90 days) of P90X2

Thanks to Chris Guillebeau for his motivation to write the annual review and thorough exposition in "How to Conduct an Annual Review."

Thanks to Benny Hsu from "Get Busy Living" for providing the Annual Review worksheets.

Bernard Vukas

My Annual Review: 2011

My Visit to Bangladesh Outsourcing Conference & eASiA 2011

Featured as Case Study: Unconventional Entrepreneurs (Upcoming Book)

I'll be speaking at Freelancing Conference eASiA 2011 in Dhaka, Bangladesh!

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