Tag: Productivity

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Finances Productivity Self-Actualization

The Exceptional Power of Public Accountability

Want to achieve big goals this year? Try putting them in print.

There’s no such thing as a slam dunk commitment. But when intentions are declared out loud, they tend to be just a little more sticky. They carry a little more weight.

They raise the stakes.

There are plenty of examples of this in public life. It’s the reason why weddings — despite concerning rates of divorce — still garner plenty of attention and fanfare. Though marriage has become passe in some circles, there’s still something about vows made in front of witnesses that means a lot.

It’s why we pay attention to what our politicians say in public (and by extension, it’s why a free and robust press is foundational to a healthy democracy). It’s why signed contracts in the world still warrant headlines. It’s why when CEOs at major corporations make announcements, the markets respond accordingly.

Facing the Fears

We’re often reluctant to declare goals out loud because of the social risk. It’s so easy to imagine the pushback months down the road.

  • “Didn’t you say you were going to lose 20 pounds this year?”
  • “I thought you were going to apply to law school. What happened to that?”
  • “So what ever happened to the book that you were planning to write?”

We can hear the snickers and see the sneers.

Channel the Energy

What would happen, though, if instead of backing down in the face of those fears, we embraced the pressure they signal. I mean, what if we really leaned into the power of audience.

This is something I’ve thought a lot about lately. Just a couple of months ago, I decided to finally — finally — FINALLY start writing on a weekly basis.

And in my writing, I’ve tried to be real. Real about where I’ve been. Real about where I want to go from here. In posts like My 27 Goals for 2019, I’ve really put it out there.

Some Public Goals and Decisions

In fact, since my first article on Medium in October of 2017, I’ve shared the following goals and decisions:

  • I’m working on a Master’s degree.
  • I keep my phone out of the bedroom at night.
  • My wife and I will not borrow money to buy a vehicle.
  • I’m going to start a podcast (this became reality in March of 2018).
  • I don’t eat potato chips, French fries, or non-alcoholic sugary drinks.
  • I’m going to try to finish the Vancouver Sun Run (10 km/6.2 miles) in <50 minutes.
  • My family eats dinner at the dining room table sans screens — not in front of the TV and not with phones present.

Find the Tipping Point

Of course, I’ve set a ton of other goals and made a ton of other decisions in terms of how I live my life, but I share these examples in particular because they each represent terrific battles. They’re not always things I want to do in the moment.

Mind over matter, spirit over flesh — each of these goals and decisions invites powerful opposition from a dark part of me that wants to settle, wants comfort, wants less struggle and more status quo.

And sometimes, that dark part of me speaks very loudly. When I’m BLASTed (Bored, Lonely, Angry, Stressed, or Tired), it’s hard to find the resolve to resist McDonald’s fries and run 3 miles instead.

But do you know what helps me win in every case? Public accountability.

I’ve literally told so many family members, friends, colleagues, and readers that I’m going to do X and not do Y that I paint myself into a corner.

I leave myself with no choice. Either I press onward, or my credibility takes a beating.

So call it pride. Call it dignity. But I want my word to mean something. I want to be a man that follows through. I want to be intentional and committed and reliable. And as a result, I press on.

Life’s Wins Never Come Easily

As Dave Ramsey likes to say, “You can wander into debt, but you can’t wander out of it.” As it is with financial freedom, so it is with most of life’s wins.

But if you’re looking to make permanent changes, chart better courses, and realize bigger dreams, may I recommend embracing the power of accountability.

Take a look at the goals you wrote on that piece of scrap paper, and tell someone. Share your decision. Write about your plans.

Raise the stakes. You’ll be glad you did.

Because there’s excpetional power in public accountability.

Categories
Gaming Lifestyle Productivity Relationships

Why I Don’t Game

Confessions of a would-be gaming addict.

I love gaming. Whether they’re on my phone, my computer, or on gaming consoles made for TV, video games can be a fun, fantastic escape.

But at this point in my life, I don’t play them. At all.

Now, don’t get me wrong. This is not a self-congratulatory piece about how perfectly I spend my time. Like most of us, I have other vices — social media and Netflix being two of them.

So why the hard line on gaming?

First, let me take you on a nostalgic tour of some of my favorite gaming relationships from my distant and not-so-distant past.

Digger (1980s)

The earliest example of complete seduction by gaming that I can think of goes back to a computer game called Digger, released in 1983 by Windmill Software. I used to play it on so-called portable computers — much too large to be called laptops — that my dad brought home from work.

Digger was a Pacman-like game that involved collecting emeralds while avoiding goblins. Although simple in concept, the speed, difficulty, and intensity of the game grew with each passing level. Every time I lost my last Digger life, I began a new game with deepened resolve to improve on my best score and level.

Digger was released by Windmill Software in 1983

I could and would play Digger for hours if my parents allowed me to. 30 years after playing it, I remember the theme song and sounds of Digger like it was yesterday.

World of Warcraft (1990s)

I remember playing World of Warcraft II on desktop computers in the late 90s, during my university years. Now over 20 years old, this game from Blizzard Entertainment was a leader for its time.

When I played World of Warcraft, I was completely and utterly immersed in the game. I mean, I didn’t move, I didn’t snack, I didn’t think about anything else. My eyes darted here and there across the blue screen for hours as the mouse clicked away with constant urgency. I was all in.

As I recall them, games lasted anywhere between 1–2 hours. Inevitably, my civilization would be destroyed by another, stronger force. Dismayed, but convinced I could avoid the strategic errors of the game before, I would often start a new game and repeat the same thing all over again.

On such occasions I would typically stay up too late, defer important work, and avoid the company of others just to keep playing Warcraft.

Clash of Clans and Clash Royale (2010s)

Even in recent years, gaming has pulled me briefly into its vortex, this time on my phone. I jumped on the Clash of Clans and Clash Royale games from Supercell and found them both tremendously entertaining. These games are free to download and offer intense, competitive gameplay.

I knew I had problems with each of these games when I began paying for in-app purchases (paying real money for upgrades in resources or levels). Even worse, I found myself retreating from human company so that I could play. I was even tempted to check in on my games while at work.

Games Aren’t The Same for Everyone

This piece is not to say that gaming is morally wrong or carries some sinister power in itself. I recognize that many people enjoy a healthy and measured relationship with gaming that doesn’t encroach on more important values and priorities. But for me, the accumulation of small warning signs makes a too-compelling case to avoid games altogether.

A Losing Deal

Here, then, are the main reasons why I don’t game today.

  • The addictive quality. For me, gaming can become all-consuming in ways that other screen-related vices can’t. Your experience may be very different, but even the few and fun examples I’ve shared here reveal the compulsive power of games for me. These compulsive behaviors are typically followed by denial, dishonesty, and random disappearances — all strong signals of personal dysfunction.
  • The emotional crash. Have you noticed the irritation you face when you try to pull a gamer away from their games? Gaming tends to have that effect: it offers a nice high of stimulation but is often followed by lingering dissatisfaction. Any parent that asks gaming children to put away devices and get ready for bed is familiar with the snarly reception that can follow. I know the emotional letdown of putting the games away because I’ve lived it many times myself. It’s something I am simply a better man without.
  • The terrible return on time. Even vices like Netflix can expand my thinking or inspire imagination, and social media interactions can positively contribute to authentic human relationships. But in my experience, gaming contributes absolutely nothing of value to my life. Maybe it’s just because I’m getting older, but ROT (return on time) has become more important to me. Gaming is simply a bad deal.
  • Create> Consume. Just over a year ago, I decided to create more content. To take more risks. To be more vulnerable. To read more, write more, record more, publish more. And it’s been an exciting, growing, learning, and life-giving experience to do exactly that.

In stark contrast, I see gaming as the antithesis of learning, growth, and content creation. Instead of creating, it only consumes. Instead of enlightening my mind, it immerses me in a meaningless fog. Instead of contribution to community, gaming demands infinite time, energy, and resources.

Today, the choice is simple. I just don’t game at all. It’s not the conclusion everyone will or should reach.

But it’s the right path for me.

How does my journey with gaming compare with yours? If you’ve ever felt the pull of gaming, I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below.

Categories
Growth Mindset Lifelong Learners Productivity Reading Technology

7 Reasons Why You Should Own a Kindle

This device has single-handedly redefined my reading life and put my learning in overdrive.

Last year my wife bought a Kindle. I was unimpressed — largely because I’ve always been a big fan of the physical properties of my books. Whether it’s the quiet authority of hardcovers, the friendly personality of my flexible paperbacks, or the way my pens and highlighters connected me with the works I so admired, I wasn’t about to trade my connection with physical books for the unfeeling grey void of a digital screen. No freaking way.

But another reality was also at work at the time — a definite dissonance between my ideals and my reading reality. Even as an English major, an educator, as someone who actually writes for fun and genuinely geeks out over the artistry of wordcraft and prose, I just wasn’t reading the way I wanted to.

I mean, I thought of myself as a reader. And I actually was reading here and there, now and again. But I wasn’t actually making the sustained kind of cover-to-cover progress that I knew I wanted and needed in my life.

Time wore me down. Slowly but surely, the initial distaste I felt for my wife’s e-reader subsided. Finally, awash in required reading for my graduate studies, I caved and hit purchase.

And my reading has been forever transformed. That’s not an overstatement.

Here are the seven reasons why you too — and I’m looking at YOU, devout disciple and loyal defender of paper books — should venture out to the digital dark side and treat yourself to the Kindle experience.

1. It’s made for a powerful bedtime reading routine.

The light on the Kindle screen can be turned incredibly low and soft, so it’s easy on the eyes and doesn’t stimulate artificially the way the blue light from phones and tablets is prone to do. It’s incredibly lightweight and maneuverable, so yes — that hardcover Sherlock Holmes anthology is now a possibility at bedtime. I even like the unique slightly-gritty feel of the Kindle screen — a different sensory experience than the glass surfaces of our phones and tablets. And since it requires no lamp, it doesn’t keep my partner awake. Put simply, a comfortable bedtime reading routine has meant that I now read virtually every single day.

2. It tracks and stores all of my highlights.

I’ve been a highlighter since my undergrad years. I know not everyone takes in content this way, but I absorb nonfiction works in terms of gems and big ideas that I can return to, reflect on, and remix. When I realized that every one of my highlights was automatically synced and stored in my Goodreads profile, I couldn’t believe my good fortune.

Now, every inspiring line, every memorable quote, and every motivating concept is saved for me to tweet, share, email, post, and reflect on further. The same convenience applies to any book-based academic research. An absolute game-changer.

3. It lets me travel light.

I’ve got a funny story here. A few years ago I paid my parents a visit in another city. While staying with them, I hit a bargain book store and cleaned up. But my book savings cost me dearly at the airport when I went to fly back home — my suitcase was grossly overweight and I paid a heavy surcharge.

Now, packing a suitcase of books is admittedly a pretty dumb move and I’m sure not your reality. But I suspect you’ve felt the pain of having to narrow down your reading to 1–2 titles when hopping on a flight. With your Kindle, you’ll never have to reject your lovelies again.

4. Its real-time progress reports are strangely motivating.

Call me a stats nerd, but yes — I sleep better knowing I’ve read 2% more of Atomic Habits or Balance Like a Pirate before heading to bed. Maybe it’s just my own nerdy ritual, but it’s become so satisfying to nudge those percentages higher each and every day as I push my way through books large and small. Some nights I hit the hay utterly exhausted. But I’m never too tired to read 2% of a book.

5. It offers the Amazon advantage.

Come on — it’s Amazon! Because I’m logged into my Amazon account at all times on my Kindle, I’m able to add any book on the market in less than a minute.

Sure, you can point to the consumerism or impulsive spending tendencies that such power facilitates. But honestly — that’s pretty awesome power.

You’ve already embraced on-demand music on iTunes and on-demand video on Netflix. Why not embrace on-demand reading? It’s there at your fingertips.

6. Its cloud access extends across all devices.

Like you, I’m not such a big fan of reading books on my phone or PC. But the reality is that you’ll be caught Kindle-less on occasion. And you know what? Instead of checking email or surfing social media while sitting six carts deep in a Costco check-out line, you just might prefer the option of reading Brene Brown’s Dare to Lead. Admit it — it’s a nice option to have.

7. It’s ALL your books, ALL the time.

At the end of the day, the Kindle case comes down to the simple but profound experience of having all your books with you at once. Limitless, comfortable, and convenient reading that can’t be more accessible. That’s it.

Yes, going with an e-reader is a paradigm shift. It took me a while to choose screen over paper. But thanks to my Kindle, I’m now reading more often, finishing more titles, and learning and growing in ways that I never imagined possible.

And I get it — you love your paperbacks. But my advice is to give this powerful device a chance. It just might rekindle the reader inside you and ignite a passion for learning and imagination that you never knew existed.

Still not a Kindle convert? Let me know why in the comments below! Thanks for reading.

Categories
Business Communication Entrepreneurship Productivity Smartphones Social Media Technology Twitter

5 Reasons to Niche Down on Twitter

Why multiple Twitter accounts will actually simplify your life and improve your focus.

Photo credit: rawpixel on Unsplash

You like Twitter, but you’re using one account for news, politics, sports, humor, inspiration, and work. You can do better — a lot better. To fully optimize your Twitter experience, you need to create niche accounts. Confused or unconvinced? Here’s the what, how, and why.

What I Mean

What I’m recommending is that you create multiple Twitter accounts — preferably one for every major domain in your personal and professional life. Start with two or three and then consider adding from there. Here’s why.

5 Reasons Why You Need to Niche Down on Twitter

It lets you stay in one headspace at a time.

I’m a teacher. When I want to look for education inspiration, I open my teacher Twitter account. I don’t want to see sports headlines or the latest comments from Donald Trump. I want to read education gold that will continue to inspire and transform my practice. By only following committed educators in this account, I set parameters for the content I see in my feed.

You’ll tweet to an audience who cares.

My sports fan network doesn’t care about the latest big ideas from my teachers’ conference, and my education network doesn’t want to hear about how my favorite team is doing in their big game. Misdirected tweets will only irritate your audience and cost you followers. Instead, add value to your network by tweeting the right content to the right audience.

It supports intentionality on social media. 

I have a handful of accounts at the moment, but I’m only checking a few on a regular basis. Other accounts are for occasional amusement and take up little of my attention. Since my Twitter time is limited throughout the day, I want to be able to make thoughtful and discriminatory choices about which content I’m consuming and where I’m engaging.

It facilitates professional networking. 

I use my professional and podcasting Twitter accounts to reach out to other educators via direct message. That works very well when I use niche professional accounts that make it very clear who I am and what I’m all about. I suspect that wouldn’t work as well coming from my sporting account.

It’s convenient. 

Despite what you might expect, it’s not much of a hassle to flip back and forth between accounts. The Twitter app makes it quick and easy, so don’t let the hassle factor discourage you.

Nothing but Wins

It’s been a few years since I split my Twitter presence, and I absolutely love it for all the reasons listed here. My content, engagement, and feeds have never been richer or more focused.

If you’re looking to get more out of Twitter, it might be time to niche down.

Categories
Goals Mindset Morning Routines Self-Actualization

9 Daily Actions That Create Greater Self-Actualization

Some day. Some day very soon, we like to tell ourselves.

Some day soon I will pull it all together. I’ll invest in the relationships that matter most. I’ll journal and meditate. I’ll set clear goals every morning. I’ll read the books I’ve been meaning to read. I’ll get into great shape and eat better. I’ll brush up on that musical instrument. I’ll start to write, design, and create things of beauty or utility that others will value.

Some day very soon. Just as soon as life settles down and becomes a little more manageable, I’ll make my move. And it’ll be awesome.

Yet, if we’re honest, we know what comes next. Life doesn’t slow down, and it doesn’t become more manageable. Or if it does, another challenge appears on the horizon. Family obligations increase. Work pressures loom. Health issues complicate.

The prerequisite state of equilibrium that we demand before we move forward has been disrupted again, and ‘some day’ remains as elusive as ever. All the future tense talk that friends and family hear from us about all the great initiatives on the way remains just that. Talk.

The reality is that ideas and intentions are absolutely worthless. The only thing that counts, that makes an impact, that produces real results and lasting legacy is action. That’s it.

Everyone dreams. Everyone has a concept — however vague or ill-defined — of their best life and best self. But sadly, this maximal manifestation of one’s passions, abilities, and creative energies just never takes shape for most people.

It’s not for lack of vision. And it’s not for lack of desire. The reasons we don’t step out and express our truest passions and purpose usually amount to uncertainty and fear — fear that the changes we want and the achievements we imagine are just too difficult and overwhelming.

We fear the failure that might follow the shock of a giant leap or an abrupt change in life direction. And so our fear keeps us in a state of paralysis by analysis. And nothing changes. Nothing happens.

We fail to see that the only thing lacking is simply action — any action at all. We miss the fact that even tiny, daily habits represent momentum and progress in the right direction. Taken over time, things start happening.

Impressive Progress Can Happen in Small Increments

One of the biggest lessons I learned in 2017 was the incredible power of incremental progress. Fueled by influencers like Brendon Burchard, Tom Karadza, and Brian Buffini, I finally understood that some of my life’s most precious dreams and ambitions would never be realized until I started to actually invest in them every single day.

“How you spend your days is how you spend your life.” — John Lee Dumas

The idea that each day is actually a microcosm of my life really got my attention. I had all these visions for change, for growth, for things I wanted to accomplish across the grand narrative of my life. But if they weren’t showing up in my day to day, they weren’t showing up in my life. That was a brutal reality check.

And so, in 2017 I decided to make intentional growth and greater self-actualization a goal of every day. The results have been gradual, steady, and ultimately transformative. What follows is a sampling of what happened … and continues to happen for me on a daily basis.

9 Daily Actions that Build Progress Toward Self-Actualization

  1. Journaling and Meditation. Through handwritten journaling, meditation, and prayer for just 15 minutes a day, I feel more spiritually connected and centred than ever.
  2. Goal Setting. By taking two minutes each morning to set big goals for the day, every day feels more focused and intentional.
  3. Creative Writing. Always a joy but rarely a reality in years gone by, I now push myself to write at least 100+ words a day. By lowering the bar from an essay to a paragraph, I’m now producing more written content than ever before.
  4. Working Out. By visiting a gym close to my house for just 25 minutes every workday morning, I’ve never been fitter or stronger. It doesn’t require an hour for me to break a wicked sweat and push my body to the max. Quick and efficient is the new name of my exercise game.
  5. Eating Better = -3 +2. Besides cutting out three of my vices (chips, fries, and sugary drinks), I’ve given myself a small and simple daily eating challenge: eat two green things. The first is usually the kale or spinach that goes into my morning smoothie, so finding a second green food somewhere in my day is relatively easy. By subtracting three items and intentionally adding two, I’m now leaner and meaner than ever. Instead of subscribing to some paradigm-shifting diet plan, I’m just taking a few small steps in the right direction. And I’m 12 pounds down from last year.
  6. Side Hustle Income. Although this is definitely not a passion project, my goal is to list or mail at least one item on eBay per day. This simple 5-minute activity keeps a few extra bucks flowing our way. It’s surprisingly encouraging and motivating.
  7. Piano Practice. My parents gave me the option to quit my lessons at age 15 or so, and predictably I’ve lived to regret it ever since. By learning and practising just one piece for a few minutes each day, I’m warming up that old muscle memory and reigniting an old passion.
  8. Reading. Every night, I make sure I read for at least a few minutes from two books on my Kindle: the first a book for my Master’s program, the second a work of fiction. By making sure this happens every night — even if it’s just a few pages from each — I’m staying solidly on track with my degree and projecting an all-time personal best for number of books finished in a year.
  9. Eyeball Time. Since Apple claimed FaceTime as its own, I use ‘Eyeball Time’ to refer to the kind of quality screen-free time required every day to cultivate intimate and meaningful relationships with my wife and stepsons. As a result, we fight hard to protect the weekday dinner hour and bedtime from screens. It’s not a ton of time. But it’s the minimum needed to keep the most important relationships in my life healthy and vibrant. If I’m not making progress on this front, nothing else matters.

Between my marriage, two adolescent stepsons, my teaching career, and Master’s studies, I’ve got a lot on my plate right now. In past seasons of life, I’d have seen this as reason enough to put my hours on cruise control, dissolving into Netflix at each day’s end and waking up lazily to the snooze button.

“So many choices to make today. And each choice I make … makes me.” — John Stackhouse

But I’ve spent enough of my life on meaningless distractions and diversions — as Jim Gaffigan so elegantly describes it, the McDonald’s of life — waiting for conditions to ripen, the waves to calm, the proverbial dust to settle perfectly before taking action and realizing my full potential as a human being.

Those days are over. I’ve discovered the exhilarating power of daily progress— the truth that small actions, taken over time, have the power to yield truly transformative results. And I can’t wait to see what’s in store.

Categories
Connect Time Goals Growth Mindset Productivity

My 2017 Goals in Review

2017 is breathing its last, and as it comes to a close I look back on the goals I set for this year. Goals that were met and surpassed encourage and motivate me to aim higher in 2018. Goals that were left unmet give me cause to evaluate my habits, decisions, and personal routines in order to determine where things went awry and where I can grow further in the coming year.

At the end of the post I also reflect on some of the biggest highlights that fell completely outside of my goal-setting and made 2017 a memorable year.

Financial

✓ Goal: Earn at least $1,200 in supplementary (side hustle) income. This goal was easily achieved by selling collectibles and currency coins on eBay. I expect this to continue through 2018.

✘ Goal: Sell 365+ items online. Even though I listed as many as 10 items in a single day, the average of one listed item per day was just too difficult to sustain this year. I’ll be downgrading or eliminating this goal entirely in 2018.

✘ Goal: Reduce HELOC balance by $300/month or $3,600. My wife and I have held a balance on our HELOC ever since buying our home in 2015. Unfortunately, our balance on this account went the wrong direction this year. The biggest culprits were new hardware tools, three weeks of summer camps for the boys, a week for us at a luxury resort in Vernon, a family weekend in Whistler, a new hot water tank, a semester’s worth of tuition for my Master’s degree, and flights for the family to Winnipeg at Christmas. Some of these expenditures were justified but many were not. The good news on this front is that we’ve successfully tightened our budget for the last four months of 2017 and actually saved more than we earned during that period. I’m confident we can do a lot better in 2018, even though I’ll be paying out another $6,000 in tuition.

Marital

✓ Goal: Make weekly Connect Times happen more consistently. We were able to turn this around well in the last few months of 2017 by conducting our weekly ‘Connect Time’ meetings on Saturday mornings instead of trying to pull them off in the evenings. Reviewing all of our budget areas and comparing calendars for the week ahead really helped keep us on the same page and helped us manage our money more efficiently.

✘ Goal: Plan at least one memorable date per month. I’m sad to say that this didn’t happen. Thankfully, Date Nights did happen regularly, but typically we made it up as we went. I can do better here, but it will require scheduling some planning time into my week.

Paternal

✓ Goal: Read with the boys before bed on a weekly basis. This has gone really well. I’m currently reading to both boys on Tuesday evenings: The Hobbit with Michael and This Present Darkness with Joshua.

✓ Goal: Continue monthly stepdad-stepson meetings. Our monthly dinners at Tim Hortons continued faithfully. Topics included school, friendships, finances, goals, plans, purity, and gaming. I started keeping a journal of notes from these meetings.

✓ Goal: Find more connecting points with the boys. This goal is difficult to quantify, but I think I achieved it. One fun development is that the boys are finally old enough now to handle watching more interesting movies with me. We’re also mutual fans of a growing number of YouTube channels, and we plan to do some vlogging together in 2018.

✘ Goal: Make a baby. Good news here: it wasn’t for lack of trying.

Physical

✓ Goal: Complete 12+ reps of 135 lbs. on the bench press at our annual July 1st fitness challenge. I completed 13.

✓ Goal: Bring weight down from 192 lbs. to 180. By fasting completely from chips, fries, and sugary drinks from spring break forward, I actually saw 179 on the scale one day this fall. As of this writing my weight is back in the low 180s.

✓ Goal: Work out 104+ times in 2017. I broke 104 recorded workouts, most of them taking place at Anytime Fitness locations.

✘ Goal: Do 42 pushups in one set. My max this year was 35. Two shoulder dislocations in March didn’t help, but that’s no excuse. To elevate this number further, I think I need to start doing push-ups before bed every day.

✘ Goal: Complete the Vancouver Sun Run in <50 minutes. I didn’t run it at all, thanks largely to two shoulder dislocations the month before.

✘ Goal: Reduce meat intake by 14% or more with Meatless Mondays. This started well in the first months of the year but eventually fell by the wayside. I’d like to try to get back on it in 2018.

✘ Goal: Run 3+ km an average of once/week. I only ran more than 3 km a total of six times in 2017. This has got to improve in 2018. Running at 8:00 a.m. on Sundays is the key. Clearly I’m conflicted when it comes to running.

Professional

 ✓ Goal: Begin a M. Ed. program or other certification. I began a MEdL program at VIU which is going very well.

✓ Goal: Record at least 1+ set of assessments per day during the school year. At the time of this writing, I’ve managed to record an average of at least one set of class assessments per day through the last three months of 2017.

Self-Improvement

 ✓ Goal: Write and publish 12+ blog posts. As of mid-December I had published 18 and counting. I’m dreaming big in terms of how and where to grow my writing in 2018.

✓ Goal: Discard at least one item of clothing per week. I’ve surpassed this one, but the scary thing is that it hardly feels like I’ve made a dent.

 ✓ Goal: Read 3,650+ book pages. This turned out to be a difficult goal to quantify and track, but I think I’ve achieved it. I purchased a Kindle in the fall, and it’s become a go-to before bed on a daily basis. My Master’s program has certainly pushed me in this regard.

Social/Relational

✓ Goal: Go on at least one double date per month. We’ve easily surpassed this, and it’s been great.

✓ Goal: Visit the Cavey families in Winnipeg. After three years away, we made our first family trip to Winnipeg as a married couple in December.

✓ Goal: Connect with neighbours over a meal. In mid-December we finally went on a double date with our next door neighbours. It was great to get to know them and share life stories. It turns out we have a lot in common.

Spiritual

✓ Goal: Read through the New Testament 2x, Psalms 2x, and Proverbs 12x. I was able to follow these reading plans pretty consistently by listening to the audio tracks on these reading plans using the YouVersion app each morning.

✓ Goal: Complete the Freedom Session course. This was a long course, but some valuable healing and introspection took place along the way.

✘ Goal: Complete 12+ prayer journal entries. These are page-long reflections that I write out as prayers and meditations on the state of my life. As of December 18, I had only completed eight on the year.

Home Projects

✓ Goal: Clean vinyl siding on the exterior of our house. We bought a telescopic wand/brush at the home show just for this purpose. It happened.

✓ Goal: Paint the back patio. This was done over 2-3 hot days in the summer. The colour is a bit lighter than I wanted, but our patio looks cleaner, brighter, and better-maintained than it did before.

Other Victories to Celebrate from 2017

✫ No phone at bedtime. For a range of reasons, I decided to ban my phone from the bedroom at bedtimes, leaving it on our main floor. It’s been a great experience. I now read more, engage more with my wife, and go to sleep sooner. What started as a 2-week experiment has become a permanent lifestyle change. See my Medium post about my decision to ban my phone from the bedroom.

✫ A successful change to the diet. Concerned over my rising weight and blood pressure, in the spring I decided to completely fast from my three worst vices: chips, fries, and sugary drinks. I’ve managed to keep to those rules pretty strictly and lost 12 bad pounds in the process.

✫ A new morning routine. In the spring I decided to start waking up at 4:30 a.m. every workday morning. Although there have been times where exhaustion, stress, or poor health has taken me off this routine, I’ve managed to keep it pretty consistently for the balance of the calendar year. My morning hour spent at Starbucks gives me amazing creativity and productivity, and this routine also ensures I get 20-30 minutes in at Anytime Fitness before returning home around 6:35 a.m. to officially start preparing for the day. I hope this will remain a life habit.

✫ A bedtime journal. I started doing some handwritten journaling and reflecting before bed, using the Tim Ferriss 5-minute journal as a guide. Although I’ve only used it about a dozen times, it gives me a starting point for 2018. Eventually I would like this to become an every-night ritual. It’s so good for the mind and spirit.

 ✫ A new canoe. Our family got an amazing deal on a good canoe, and we enjoyed some quality canoe adventures at Widgeon Creek and English Bay. Watching the Celebration of Light fireworks display from nearby on the ocean surface was an awesome experience.

✫ Three days of paddleboarding. While the boys were away at a camp on Vancouver Island, my wife and I spent days paddleboarding at Ambleside Beach, Alouette Lake, and the Burrard Inlet. My favourite experience was paddling down the Indian Arm, exploring islands together and enjoying a still day on the ocean.

 ✫ Best hike ever. In August I hiked Panorama Ridge in Garibaldi Provincial Park (near Whistler, BC), producing some of the most beautiful views of any hike I’ve ever done.

✫ The ISTE conference in San Antonio, TX. At the end of June, I and two colleagues were privileged to spend about six days in San Antonio at the largest education technology conference in the world. It was an awesome experience and I hope to visit the conference again some time.

✫ Books completed in 2017:

  1. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (Carol Dweck)
  2. The Tech-Wise Family (Andy Crouch)
  3. The Reason You Walk (Wab Kinew)
  4. Cold, Hard Truth (Kevin O’Leary)
  5. Classroom Management in the Digital Age: Effective Practices for Technology-Rich Learning Spaces (Heather Dowd)
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Productivity Time

168 Hours: I Have the Time

Right now I’m 90 pages into a book by Laura Vanderkam called 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think. This book has profoundly challenged me to use my time more wisely and efficiently – among other things, to focus my time more squarely on passions and core competencies instead of drudgeries and activities that don’t advance my core values and objectives.

So far in 168 Hours, one of Vanderkam’s best observations is the idea that “Oh, I don’t have time for that” is almost never true. Laura points out that if your basement suddenly flooded, you would instantly find the 5-10 hours necessary to do what it took to restore order to your home and repair the damage. You’d just have to. Other things in your schedule would simply have to shove over and make room.

On the flip side, if someone asked you if you had 5-10 hours this week to start training for a 10K run or begin learning a new language, you might drop the “I don’t have time” line. But that wouldn’t be exactly true. What would be true is that these proposed activities wouldn’t figure high enough on your priority list – your actual priority list – to make the cut for your week.

At a later date, I look forward to posting a full report of gems and highlights from the book. I think she’s fantastic. But for today, I’m going to apply what I’ve read so far by setting some personal short-term goals. Because this is the first post in what I hope will become a helpful online journal of sorts, I have no following and therefore no audience. So the accountability (and potential embarrassment) factors will be quite low.

Today is my first official day of a two-week spring break. I have ten weekdays at my disposal: five spent at home with family, and five with my wife and boys at work and school. I will consider these ten days a success if all or most of the following objectives are met within each day:

  1. Familial: Spend at least one hour of quality family time (ie. one common activity, no screens involved, not including meals).
  2. Financial: List 1+ item on eBay.
  3. Marital: Connect meaningfully with my wife in some way (conversation, gift, note, activity, etc.).
  4. Professional: Evaluate and record marks for two class assignments.
  5. Professional: Take one step (however small) towards furthering my education.
  6. Organizational: File 1+ item in my office. Leave the office generally more ordered than it was the day before.
  7. Physical: Complete a full exercise routine (despite recently dislocating my shoulder).
  8. Personal: Read 10+ pages of nonfiction.
  9. Spiritual: Complete an assigned portion of Bible reading, write a short journal entry in response, and spend some time in prayer.
  10. Spiritual: Write one blog post.

I may come back to this post and record my results. But in any case, completion of these ten goals will represent hours very well spent, produce a high amount of satisfaction, and advance my life values and objectives. Here’s to some good intentions.