Every year I set a focus for what I want to accomplish during the year. I don’t much believe in setting other goals beyond that, as having too many increases the chances of any one of them failing. I’ve noticed lately that I’ve also started to have a ‘secret goal’ of sorts. Something a few notches down on the priority list from my named focus, but that I think about in the back of my head. Sometimes it is something I want to monitor in case I decide to make it a true focus item in a future year. Sometimes it is a past focus item I’m still keeping an eye on. This year I’m writing it down my secret goal so that I don’t forget it and to see if writing about it is a bad idea altogether. The secret goal for 2018 is to create more than I
Now half way through my inaugural sabbath year I’ve gained a lot of understanding about the benefits and difficulties of an undertaking like this. As I transition from six months of not working back into my career I face a few more adjustments and learning opportunities. In some ways it will be difficult to try to continue to sabbath while also working a demanding job, but my suspicion is that will actually be easier for me than parenting full time. Without much else to share in this update I wanted to turn to a topic that usually comes up quickly when I mention I’m taking time off of work – that of money. As we’ve told family, friends and people we just met about our sabbath year situation, some outright ask ‘how can you afford to do that?’, others joke ‘wow, you must be rich’ and some have the question
With the start of a new year, I take the time to set my focus for the coming year. I believe that by being selective about where I direct my energy, I can achieve results that are exponentially greater than if I split that energy across many different goals. More details about the process are in this blog post and you can review the results from past years (2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 & 2017). 2018 Theme: First Principles Lifestyle The idea of first principles thinking is to remove preexisting assumptions and to build towards a conclusion from the ground up, challenging and testing every brick as you build. A first principles lifestyle would be one in which all aspects of that life are chosen intentionally because they are the most effective ways to achieve a person’s goals. A life in which everything has been stripped back to the foundation and rebuilt intentionally.