Joshua van Aalst’s blog

Just a quick update….

I’ve been really busy as of late working primarily on my MBA application but also on a variety of other projects both personal and work related.

I’ve been swimming at least 4 times a week and am actively trying to push the 40 second mark for 50 meters freestyle. That’s with shorts on. I prefer swimming with drag for improved exercise and strength building. Hopefully this should assist me in becoming a stronger surfer . The Easter long weekend is also coming up and Sydney has finally had a run of good weather. I am definately looking forward to indulging in as much surfing as possible.

Other than the above, I have some exciting updates to the website (http://www.joshandfriends.com.au) coming. New Classifieds (Buying and Selling) software will enable promotors to sell tickets and merchandise via the website. I also have a new blog software coming for this blog which will allow me to add more categories and improve the skin. I’d like to commission a skin that is actually related to my life rather than something generic. Both of those upgrades should be happening this weekend. Within the next month though, their will be a major upgrade to the forum software which will provide a tone of Facebook/Myspace style functionality.

Also work at Macquarie Equity Markets has been incredibly busy with multiple projects coming my/my teams way. One is a particularly interesting project which I’m really looking forward to.

Lastly, but certainly not the least important, I have been trying to catch up with alot of my friends. During the course of last year I drifted away from alot of my friends. Partly due to commitments to Josh and Friends but also due to MBA application commitments. Now that at least the first item above has become more manageable I am enjoying seeing many of my friends again

Anyway thats all for me

It’s a very big week for me this week with the MBA application process, so please wish me luck!!!

Josh

Hi everyone,

I am about to print new Josh and Friends T-shirts and singlet tops. We haven’t done any promotional merchandise for a very long time and to improve on the effectiveness of last times efforts, I decided to go for designed shirts and singlets rather than traditional Josh and Friends merchandise i.e. logo printed on a plain shirt.

The designer Mark from the Need for Tees as created 4 fabulous designs that you can view here: T Shirt Designs.

To ensure I choose the design that people want I have created a poll where you can vote.

Please take a moment to follow this link and vote: CLICK HERE TO VOTE

Thanks!

Josh

Having just blogged about my journey of discovery into what drives me, I thought I’d share 5 phrases that I believe sums me up:

1) Only the best is good enough.

If you are going to do something then do it well. Their is no point watching someone else doing something really well and thinking “I would like to do that”. If you are already investing your time and money into something you may as well strive!

2) You only live once.

As the point says; You only live once. Make the most of every minute and don’t let life slip you by without attempting your goals!

3) I see great beauty in great achievement.

Their is something about achievement that drives me. I admire achievement in others even if I do not understand the medium itself e.g. photography (looks in Annie’s direction).

4) Nothing is unattainable.

If someone else can achieve something then more often than not their is no reason why you can’t also achieve that same something. Don’t throw a goal away because you perceive it to be too hard or unattainable.

5) I live to produce and not to consume.

An extension of; If you only live once make the most of it. I feel that by producing and watching others enjoy and consume my productions I am able to get added satisfaction from my life. This can be through hosting a free website community to foster the underground dance music scene or creating exciting events for people to enjoy.

So what am I going to do now that I have discovered the above? Ensure I follow my dreams

As I am simply no good at keeping secrets, the cat is out of the bag and I have applied to 3 fantastic US MBA schools.

Having recently completed my 3rd application something struck me as a little odd. A prominent component of the application is to showcase key achievements. Being someone who is driven by achievement I started to feel a little lost. Where had the year 2007 gone. Why had I achieved so many wonderful things leading up to 2007 but very little in that year itself. I’ll tell you where it went. I spent 4 to 5 months studying for the GMAT (General Management Aptitude Test entrance exam) and then 2 months focusing on my 3 applications. Other than my work in the Equity Markets group of Macquarie Bank and my swimming I had very little time left.

After initially feeling a little lost and in limbo, I realised something important. I did achieve in 2007, something very important indeed. I spent 6 months focusing on my personal aspirations. Delving in to find out what I really want and enjoy, and discovering where I need to focus my energies to get there. I now feel ready to move forward with my achievements in the knowledge that I will apply my self more efficiently.

Morale of the story: Never feel negative about donating a chunk of time to follow your dream. You never know what positives will arise.

For those of you who haven’t heard of an RTS game it refers to the genre of computer games known as Real Time Strategy gaming. Games such as Warcraft 3, Starcraft, Command and Conquer and Dawn of War.

Originally when network play was launched, over a decade ago, it was for players to increase their enjoyment of the games. That seems to have all but dissappeared. In today’s heavily competitive online computer gaming world. If you dare play online without being properly prepared, with hours of practice game time invested, you will find yourself loosing comprehensively. When you combine this with the way online gaming ladders work, which ensure that when you win you play someone harder, it compounds the amount of times you loose, and no one finds loosing enjoyable.

Surry Hills is now in dire need of cafe’s. If you don’t know Surry Hills then let me describe it… Surry Hills is Sydney’s super chic funky cafe loving suburb populated with upper to upper middle class yuppies. I think an understated generalization would be to state that a vast majority of residents would even work out of their local cafe’s.

… but on Sunday it is a war zone. A number of coffee shops are closed. This coupled with the fact that a larger number of people stay in the area than during the working week. The few coffee shops that are open are packed, as supply totally overwhelms demand. If you take a stroll down to any of the remaining open coffee stores you will find hour long queues with more people waiting outside the store than seats that are within.

We need more coffee stores! If you are a budding entrepreneur then take a look at opening a coffee store in Surry Hills. Their certainly is the demand to warrant it!

I don’t know if St George Bank customers read some of the material that arrive with their monthly bank statements but this month’s included quite a few fee hikes!!

1) St George Bank Freedom/Savings accounts monthly account service fee moves up to $7!
2) Overseas cash withdrawal fee moves up to $5 per transaction.
3) Their are now no free withdrawals for non St George Bank ATM’s in all Australian states other than NSW and Victoria.

Moral of the story. Don’t throw away all of the St George Bank material you receive as their may be some nasty surprises in store.

Yay!

We did it. Josh and Friends officially hit 100,000 posts. It just goes to show that not only do we seem like a big site. We are a big site. Big thanks must go to all the fantastic regular members who have made this happen.

Now on to the next milestone of 500,000 posts which officially classifies the website as a “big board”.

See you then!

Just a quick note that I have also been blogging here:

http://www.joshandfriends.com.au/forums/blogs/joshua-van-aalst/

I tend to put small thoughts in that blog and larger thoughts in this one.

Cheers,
Josh

Sorry it’s been forever since I blogged last so here is an update.

I have been working ridiculously hard of late. Primarily applying for top American B*schools in particular their MBA programs. It has been an interesting time preparing the applications as they have provided an opportunity to spend time looking at what I have accomplished in my life and reflecting and focusing on my life thus far. What I have enjoyed, what I haven’t enjoyed e.t.c. e.t.c.

Anyway I am almost out of the application zone. I only have one more school to apply for and then I am done and will move into that very nervous phase of waiting to see if I get an interview/excepted.

In addition to the applications I have also been working ridiculously hard at launching the new website www.joshandfriends.com.au which I have done in conjunction with Maximillian Bartel of Indiquo. It is a fantastic new site and shifts the site from being an event managers website to being a 100% social networking dance music website. I believe the first of a kind. You can litterally do anything! Add news items to the front of the site. Add polls, competitions. Post a classified, sell tickets, list a want to buy. Host your download with us. Create photo albums and upload pics. Write a blog and of course list your events. It’s all there.

On the website note, the current site is only the 1st phase of the new site and we have a very exciting completion to the new site being implemented late January.

Other than that I have been approached by several nightclub venues and I feel it is now the right time to head back into the arena of dance music events. I will be having serious discussions with them early in 2008 and should have some news to post shortly after.

Enjoy,
Josh