In 2016, many of my blog posts were scheduled, planned on a spreadsheet, and determined well in advance. 2017, I want to be more impulsive, unscheduled, and unpredictable.
So, anyone viewing this may notice some changes. This is my first BLOG post of 2017. My new years update at the beginning of the month was a VLOG…. And the link for it is HERE and on my welcome page (in case you haven’t seen it), and includes some of the discussion about the changes.
I have decided that 2017 will be much about the year I try to do things substantially differently. I have already touched on a bunch of the things in past posts and videos, so if they didn’t make sense to you then, hopefully this post and a few others will help tie things all nicely together and maybe with a bow on top. For those that really need to know – the bow will be Yellow, with a red stripe on it. It may not make sense now, but eventually you will see where I was going with all this.
Cancer wise – the last 3 rounds of BCG are complete, and I am happy to report that I am feeling pretty good overall. I still continue to not know the dates of future events, which completely destroys any ability to plan anything. I am still not happy about a situation like this, but I can acknowledge it a little better (more than 2 years later)
Not only did I take a few months to study the stats and analytics of my blog, and various social media outlets, but I took stock of my personal inventory. I have talked a bit about what some of the online stats/analysis have said, but some of the personal inventory items, haven’t really been given the attention. But, I think I really need to reassess the strategy that I am using for choosing the path ahead, and how to change that path.
I have talked in the past about Podcasts I listen to, but only a little bit on the “why”. I listen when I walk by myself; work on some leather projects etc. Many of the podcasts I was listening to were about trying to make me a “better version of me”. They mostly talked about self-improvement and how to live your life better. I decided that I have a pretty good life. I have done good things with it, and have a pretty substantial list of accomplishments. Where I had to realize some changes was that I didn’t need to improve myself for the path I am taking, I need to assess the value of the path I am on. A big part of this was the complete realization that I am starting over – I don’t need to change the vehicle that is travelling the path (although adding some luxury would be nice), I need to better discover the path that I want to be on. This has led to changes in my podcast listening playlists.
A podcast that really made me think Podcast with Charlie Brenneman and made me think that I need to look at it as starting over, not trying to change in the middle. This is a key thought in my strategy development.
I have also re-assessed what I was doing with all my volunteer work. I was spending a substantial amount of time working on the projects, but I felt as though I was a cog in the wheel. I was always concerned/stressed about my reliability and commitment level, not wanting to let anyone down. I was making the priority more about what they wanted and needed, than what I wanted or needed. So, 2017 will be about how I help and work with the volunteer groups that I support…. Trust me, I will still support – just probably not in the fashion that I did in 2016. In 2017, most of my efforts and workloads for the groups and people I support will be strategic, well in advance of events, and fairly defined specific tasks that I will do. This way, I will have no concerns about my ability to achieve them, and the timelines will be established that will not impact the projects that I want to work on. I have some projects designed to help me decide how to start from scratch – and some are just hopefully fun.
I have mentioned in the past that I felt my future was a written on a whiteboard and on April 1, 2014 – I would have told you that my plan (that was written on the whiteboard) included 2015 retirement, large diesel vehicle, comfortable toyhauler trailer, motorcycles and some travel. That all changed and the whiteboard has been erased… I still don’t have anything written on the board. The problem has been that I don’t know where to start…. Remember the 7 Red lines video (click to view) that circulated awhile back? I feel a little bit like that engineer sometimes, trying to draw 7 red lines, perpendicular to each other, with blue ink. Not sure exactly how to start, or what the end result might actually look like.
Thanks for following along on this journey.. it will continue, please continue to join me for this ride by subscribing to the blog (in the bottom, you can put in your email address) and you will get an email each and every time I post something.
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