2018-2023 Sabbath Cycle Vision: Preparing For My Calling

This is not only a new year, but it is also the first full year of my next sabbath year cycle. As such, before I define the focus for this year, I also need to define the guiding vision that will serve me for the next approximately six years. Technically my sabbath year started and ended mid-year, so I’ve actually had this guiding vision in place for six months already, since July 2018.

As I reflected on the exemplars I’ve learned about the past three year, and the period of their lives in which they accomplished the great things they are known for, they each had their biggest impact later in life. Franklin negotiated the treaty with France his 70s. Muir founded the Sierra Club in his 60s. Liddell only lived to be 43, but those final years are the reason he is remembered. Each of those people had accomplishments and showed signs of high potential early in life, but in retrospect those early years seem more as preparation. It was during those early years that they set themselves up for future success by; developing their character, becoming experts at topics they were passionate about, demonstrating their ability to execute on a tactical level, building up financial savings, forming key relationships and/or  setting up circumstances that allowed them to flourish later in life.

My guiding vision for these six year is to undertake the preparations that will allow me to, hopefully, have similar success later in life. To write the most meaningful chapters of my life at some future date.

I do not yet know what those chapters contain, but I do know that there are ways I can better prepare myself. That is what I will attempt to do over the next six years.

Some things this might look like:

• forming relationships with mentors that will help guide me
• identifying comrades in arms for missions I believe are important
• investing in key skills that I can leverage later
• identifying topics I want to specialize in & becoming an expert
• demonstrating the ability to execute exceptionally on projects of increasing scope
• building up financial basis that allows me more opportunity later
• setting up circumstances so I am close to an ideal place for later action
• building credibility with the types of people I will need support from later, even those I don’t personally know

I mentioned above that I’ve actually had this vision in place for half of the year. It shouldn’t be surprising then, that a few months ago I accepted a job at one of the most well respected and highest paying companies in the world. That was a move that, I hope, will help with all eight of the above to some degree over the coming years.

What this also means is that this is not a period for me to overextend myself. You can not much prepare for something if all of your capacity is already committed to something else. I am already in a period of life where my current p0 (highest priority) commitments are pretty heavy, so the free capacity I have for anything new is fairly low. With those facts in mind I will look to be more conservative with what I take on and spend more energy maintaining the things I already have.