The Future of Random Wok

You only need to look at my July post count to tell how active my blog has been lately. I had several posts that foreshadowed my waning interest in blogging, and the difficulty of blogging as an MBA student. But somewhere in my mind I still thought I would overcome it.

I was wrong.

My blog has become a ghost town because I’ve simply been too busy. I used to be able to take lunch breaks at work and have enough time to write up a post, but as I’m ramping down, there’s a surprising amount to do. In addition, I’m planning an international trip between my last day at work and the start of school. Once I get back, I have about a week to pack up everything and move out of my apartment into UCLA’s graduate housing. Lastly, I’m also planning to waive a couple of the core classes before I start at Anderson, which will require me to review the material before I take the waiver exam.

With so many things on my plate, I feel I barely have room to breathe much less contribute to my blog. Over the past few weeks, I spent some time pondering the future of this site and have come up with three primary goals:

Quality Over Quantity

First and foremost, I plan to keep the blog running. The hosting fees really aren’t that bad and I like the idea of having my own blog. With that said, my posting frequency will definitely drop significantly. With my MBA core courses this fall and the recruiting season picking up right after, I really can’t guarantee more than a couple of posts a month. But I’ll definitely make an effort to check in periodically.

I’ll also try to make my posts more substantive – any time I have a chance to explain a complex business concept or perform some interesting ad hoc analysis, I’ll share it on this site. (And I promise I won’t just complain about how much studying I have to do) In two years, once I’ve graduated from business school, my hope is that Random Wok will be a resource for both the MBA applicant and the MBA student.

Focus on Health

Over the past month, I’ve lost over 10 pounds and I’m working on losing 15 more. I’ve already stated numerous times in my blog how I need to focus on my health – now I finally feel like I’m living up to it. I’m working out five days a week and started tracking my weight loss progress with a site called My Fitness Pal. You can see my progress on the widget below and at the bottom of the right sidebar.

Every day I spend in an overweight and unhealthy state is a day wasted. I’m still learning the ropes on this thing they call “dieting”, but I definitely hope to share more about this experience as I push towards my goal weight. My blog will hold me accountable to making my health a priority.

Build Another MBA Website

I’m working with a fellow Anderson classmate to build a new MBA website, focused primarily on dashboard design and reporting. The content will be relevant to my business school studies and likely my postgraduate career. Running Random Wok has taught me a tremendous amount about the tech industry and helped me get through both the GMAT and the admissions process. Without having that experience, the new website would not be possible. We’re still finalizing our plans and I know I’m being sparse on details, but look for it to go live later this fall.