2015 was an unexpected year on several fronts, but a good one. Upon reflection I've realized quite a few things I've done poorly at, and devising plans to improve. From my relationships with others, to writing and holding on to goals and not giving up, I'm feeling good about 2016.
Being stuck in a rut, battling procrastination takes up so much energy. It creates feelings of guilt. 5 minutes can help this. It won't solve it immediately, but over time it gets easier and this small, daily investment and exercise will improve capacities and build a better perspective.
Why do we have limits? Sometimes the limits are only in our head, other times they are real constraints for good reason. Discover the underlying reason for any limitation on your path to expertise, and succeed in new way with distinction.
I'm trying to formalize my approach to breaking down goals and working towards them in smaller, more easily discussed and understood chunks. This is what I came up with.
My son asked my why start now, when in college they'll teach him what he needs to succeed and learn core competency. That was a tough question to answer in a way that connected him to his goals, and was easily understood. This post is helping me understand it better.
I stopped writing for a bit and wanted to examine why. The answer, I think, wasn't exactly surprising but the best answers often times aren't surprising. The only thing surprising about the answers that move us forward is how simple they can be. I'm happier now, and hopefully I'm back to a regular writing habit.
Over the last 2 years, I've pursued building products and businesses but more importantly building up myself. The Lean Startup came highly recommended and I see why, but it's just not for me. I struggled to understand or articulate exactly why, until I read Reinventing Organizations.
Each year I sit down and decide what is most important to focus on. I balance my desires and ambitions with my capabilities, and how I want to improve myself and relationships to others. Here are my 2015 Areas of Focus.
How often do I complain about the inconsequential? Way too often. I find the faults to justify my own failures to complete tasks. Why do I do this? It's because I wasn't asking myself the right questions. It isn't the tools fault.
A recap of a momentous year. It started with fear, which changed to optimism and ended with peace.
President Dwight Eisenhower was an amazing visionary and was able to share that vision and excitement with others to accomplish amazing things: the Interstates, DARPA, and the mandate for peaceful space exploration and the formation of NASA.
How did he accomplish so much in a time of such great urgency? He knew how to prioritize better than anybody else.
We make countless decisions at all hours of the day, our work pulls is in one direction and our passions in another. Then we have families, chores, and many other responsibilities. These things build up, they leave behind a residue even after we take care of them. We need to clean that residue away.
