Yearly Focus

2024 Focus: Three Quarter Year Update

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:

  • Evolution of Everything – DONE
  • Made to Stick – DONE
  • Nudge – DONE
  • The Holy Sh!t Moment – DONE
  • Forces for Good by Leslie R. Crutchfield – DONE
  • Change: How to Make Big Things Happen – very obviously relevant – IN PROGRESS (via audio)
  • The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany – IN PROGRESS (via audio)
  • Microtrends – IN PROGRESS (via audio)
  • Radical Candor – IN PROGRESS
  • Diffusion of Innovations
  • “Revolutions: A Very Short Introduction” by Jack A. Goldstone
  • Contagious: Why Things Catch On
  • The Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure, Marginal Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force in the Western World in a Few Centuries

2024 Challenge: Launch a Free Community Workout

Our workout group has remained consistent through the summer. We meet at 5:30am every Friday and usually have 4-7 men out there.

Lately the workout time has gone from being light at the start, to light only at the end, and more recently dark the whole time as the daylight hours shift.

As we shift into winter I am preparing to shift gears as well and hand off the reigns to other leaders to keep it going. It has been a great experience to help get this started and I’ve learned a lot along the way.

Here is a fun group shot from the week the Olympics started where we did an olympic themed workout.

2024 Habit: Invite Someone To Get More Involved in F3

I was about at 50% again here in Q3. Less than I’d like. This is something I’ll have to be more intentional about as I feel it has sort of mellowed out from natural interactions lately.

2024 Exemplar: Sojourner Truth

I finished the Sojourner Truth biography I was reading.

I really enjoyed some of the reflection from the author on who the real person of Truth was and who she has become in stories over the year that various groups have pushed for various reasons. It made me think a lot about who has pushed the images I have in my head of various people and how that might not be as truthful as it seems. Not only does it speak to Truth, but to all of the biographies I’ve read in the past decade

2024 Bucket List Item: Complete the Murph in <45 Minutes

In May I finished my first Murph in a time of 58 minutes and 19 seconds. Then I got injured – a silly wrist tendon injury that completely defeats my ability to do pull-ups and push-ups.

I tried recovering by going a bit easy but found progress wasn’t happening. I recently decided to rest completely for a while and focus on running instead to let my arms rest.

I’m going to let this one be finished for the year and be happy with a completion, even if not in the time I’d hoped for. Perhaps I’ll try again another year.