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.

I detailed my 2019 focus here (read that first if you want more context). Here is how I’m progressing.

2019 Theme: Long-Suffering

2019 Challenge: Fasting in the Wilderness

No progress yet except a few potential backcountry permits acquired.

2019 Habit: Minimizing Digital Entertainment

This habit has started out strong. I stayed under the threshold for 11 of the 13 weeks and my average so far is 2.27 hours of digital entertainment per week.

I actually decided to adjust my 2 hours a week goal to be different for each quarter. Q1 was set at 3 hours per week, Q2 at 2 hour, Q3 will be way down at 1 hour and then back to 2 hours per week for Q4. The reason is seasonality – winter months bring more reason to be inside.

This has come in the form of 4 movies, some time playing 2 different video games and a smattering of episodes from various Netflix shows.

Right off the bat I noticed I had to change some habits to make this work. Airplanes used to be near-guaranteed screen time for me but lately I’ve had to find other things to do when in flight. Some flights I read, others I go through and organize things on my computer and once I actually spent most of the ride talking to a stranger. I’ve also been finding other ways to be entertained. So far I’ve read 2.25 books and played 26 boardgames this year both well above my pace from last year.

2019 Exemplar: Nelson Mandela

Mandela wrote a pretty thick autobiography so I figured I would start there. I’m 25% of the way through it, which is a good bit farther than I usually am this time of year.

2019 Bucket List Item: Run the Wonderland Trail at Mt. Rainier

I’ve gone so far as to buy a running vest, some trail shoes and a set of poles. The rest pretty much comes down to seeing how much my body can take.

As a secret double-bucket-list I also signed up for a 150 mile bike ride around Mt. Rainier. I don’t plan to train for that much either.