Better every year. That is my goal. I believe that through focused effort I can keep improving and ensure my best years are still in front of me. With that in mind, at the start of a new year, I take the time to set my focus for the coming year. By being selective about where I direct my energy, I can achieve results that are exponentially greater than if I split my attention. More details about the process are in this blog post and you can review the results from past years here. 2024 Theme: Movements I’ve made a bit of progress here, I had ChatGPT make me a nice list of movements and books about them and have been making my way down the list. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany – I started it last year when it popped into
The goal of this blog post is to celebrate possessions I’ve had in my service for at least ten years. I believe that reflecting on these items will help me learn a few things about reducing waste, being efficient with my money and designing good products. These are all valuable to me. For something to last ten years in my service in needs to have a few important attributes. It needs to: be useful or beautiful – otherwise I would have gotten to a point where I didn’t need it and donated, sold or tossed it be durable and/or repairable – otherwise it would likely be broken and discarded (unless I didn’t use it, in which case, see above) I must have not outgrown it – the item would likely be passed on if I changed my preferences, body size, skill level, or hobbies away from its use case not
Better every year. That is my goal. I believe that through focused effort I can keep improving and ensure my best years are still in front of me. With that in mind, at the start of a new year, I take the time to set my focus for the coming year. By being selective about where I direct my energy, I can achieve results that are exponentially greater than if I split my attention. More details about the process are in this blog post and you can review the results from past years here. 2024 Theme: Movements This is the final year of my current sabbath cycle, a six year period where I am focused on preparing for my calling. I actually said that last year was the final full year of the current cycle too, but have decided to shift my schedule back by six months so the sabbath
Better every year. That is my goal. I believe that through focused effort I can keep improving and ensure my best years are still in front of me. With that in mind, at the start of a new year, I take the time to set my focus for the coming year. By being selective about where I direct my energy, I can achieve results that are exponentially greater than if I split my attention. In 2023 I set out to learn about Strategy. You can read more about my intent here. 2023 Theme: Strategy Self Grade: 10/10 I identified the following books as great places to learn about strategy and was able to make some solid progress. Good Strategy Bad Strategy (DONE) Blue Ocean Strategy (DONE) The Crux (DONE) The Art of Strategy (DONE) On grand strategy (IN PROGRESS) HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Strategy (IN PROGRESS) Playing to Win
In 2023 I set my theme as ‘strategy’. Last January, when I selected it, I wrote: “My goal this year will be to learn more about strategy, to figure out what the common patterns are, how to improve them in myself, and how to be a skilled strategist.” This blog post serves as a summary of what I read and what I learned. What I Read I identified the following books as good ones on the topic and I was able to read through the first four and get about half way through two others. I’ll likely just finish those up in the coming weeks before I transition into reading for my theme for 2024. Good Strategy Bad Strategy (DONE) Blue Ocean Strategy (DONE) The Crux (DONE) The Art of Strategy (DONE) On grand strategy (IN PROGRESS) HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Strategy (IN PROGRESS) Playing to Win Understanding Michael