It’s all about the narrative. My narrative is that in the year ahead, I plan to work and live in a manner that:
- Satisfies my intellectual curiosity;
- Is in harmony with my need for intellectual honesty;
- Is earnestly committed to the pursuit of a specific goal.
Oh, and I want to have fun and achieve of a bunch of pedestrian capitalistic goals within that timeframe as well.
The Thanksgiving document
Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I spent some time thinking about where I want to be when Thanksgiving arrives again next year. I codified the particulars into a 1.5 page document that spells out what I want to accomplish within the 12-month horizon.
The end of year is a time for reflection. Why fight this gravity when you can embrace it in a meaningful and rewarding fashion?
As you get older, you gain the physicality of having traveled down a lot of roads. It is then that you start to understand the goodness of engaging in serious pursuits.
Each of us only has so much time on the planet. There are only so many paths that you can hope and strive to forge within a lifetime.
With specificity, however, things can become workable. Risk and gravity are what they are and must be factored realistically into the equation, but there is a sense of empowerment in embracing the full truth with your eyes wide open.
The document that I created for myself strives for clarity, it is specific and it anticipates a few different scenarios that could play out, the probability of their outcome, as well as best-case outcomes and what they mean for me. And the twelve month time threshold forces disciplined thinking.
Make your own
Disclaimer: I have no sense of a specific 'right path' for anyone other than myself. I believe, however, that everyone can benefit from codifying and documenting their personal truth.
File this in the bucket of 'know what you have to offer, know what you require,' but in spelling it out you can better build relationships with people around a shared definition of the situation.
Starting at the start, ask yourself, “Is there an area where I truly excel, where I truly deliver the end-to-end without 50 pound caveats? Where no one can (reasonably) accuse me of giving lip service?”
Where are you serious about your business and your life, where aren’t you and where would you would like to become more diligent?
Establish and seek out your own personal truth by creating a November document for yourself. Codify your specific 1-2 page plan and commit to living the particulars.
In Buddhism there is the concept that we can ‘become’ by becoming. This is a Koan that reverberates if you let it.
