As arbitrary as the change of the calendar is, I find it to be an opportunity to consider and evaluate the life I'm living and make changes of focus and priority. For 2013, I have committed to five areas of focus: presence, parenting, portability, possibility and a perspective of plenty. Presence.
Mindfulness. Awareness. Attention. In an attempt to follow my fascinations, I often end up distracted and diminished. I don't expect a full conversion to meditation and yoga, but I do expect an attempt to be more present for my wife, children, friends and clients. A critical part of 'presence' will be found in my attention to parenting my daughter (age 3) and son (due 4/6/13) with my lovely wife.
Deliverables: Monthly "digital detox" of 48 hours. Regular business hours.
Parenting.
According to the gospel of Wikipedia, parenting is the process of promoting and supporting the physical, emotional, social, and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood. I believe that I have been an engaged parent, but I don't believe I've been the kind whole-minded parent this definition requires. To me, this includes individual quality time (that doesn't involve a screen), outdoor activities and a focus on education. It also requires an effort to provide support to other parents and children where I can.
Deliverables: Monthly Daddy day trips. Fitness efforts that I can share with my children. Further exploration of Montessori, its integration into our household and awareness around the world.
Portability.
After over 15 moves in a decade, I have spent the last several years in one location. This has meant the accumulation of 'stuff' and 'things.' While I don't anticipate a household move in 2013, I do hope to develop a more portable, perhaps even minimalist, lifestyle. The three most immediate areas for improvement are books, 'stuff' and physical health.
- Books. Last year, I purchased well over 150 books. These are added to the 100s that have already accumulated in our home. Now, I love books and plan to continue to read aggressively, but I believe I can do this without purchasing any books in the next 12 months. So, as of 5:30pm last evening, Mrs. Dude changed my Amazon password. There will be books purchased this year for OTA and other events, but Mrs. Dude is the gatekeeper.
Deliverables: Read, review and release 100 books into the wild in 2013. Develop a library concept for books that I can't give up.
- Stuff. I have an unwieldy collection of thousands of pieces of political and historical memorabilia ranging from Dakota Territory to the JFK administration, which I have been collecting since age 8. Sadly, because of the size of the collection much of it occupies boxes and bins in the basement and my office. None of it is bringing joy at this point for myself or others. In the next 12 months, I hope to 'share' much of the collection. I'm not certain what this means as the idea of selling or giving it away is horrifying, but I know that something needs to change.
Deliverables: Distribute or display a large portion of my 'stuff' collection. Inventory collection for purposes of insuring or sale. Give away the clutter.
- Physical Health. This past February, I ended up in the ER convinced I was having a heart attack. I laid on the table getting stripped, shaved and scoped while my three year old sat nearby eating cookies. In the end, it wasn't anything more than an extremely expensive wake-up call. It's important now for my children that I dedicate to a daily focus on health and the development of healthy eating habits. Over the past 9 months, I've lost over 50 pounds. That's only a good start.
Deliverables: My goal is to lose over 100 pounds by December 31, 2013.
Possibility.
Much of my life has been tied up in a framework of 'potential.' "You have so much potential," "You need to go away to an East Coast college to reach your potential," and worst of all, "You're not living up to your potential." A life of potential is often defined by others and requires a lifelong commitment to one path. What happens when the athlete with great potential wants to become an artist? Disappointment. What happens when the high potential artist want to commercialize his or her work? Sell out. Over the past few years as I've worked through my own issues with "potential", I've stumbled upon a much more rich and rewarding perspective and posture of "possibility." Possibility is limited only by creativity, curiosity, connection and community. I can't wait to share this perspective with the world.
Deliverables: Share the principles of possibility with the world. Launch the institute. Release Work, Play, Do Good.
Perspective of Plenty: ota.
Many of you know about my work on an organization we named ota. Since 2009, ota has served as a creative collaborative offering extraordinary experiences and engagements that educate, empower, and serve as catalysts for community-builders and change agents to improve the lives of all people living in South Dakota, North Dakota, and Minnesota. This entire effort is built around the belief that we have everything we need in this region to become a global hub of creativity, innovation and change. For generations, so much of our culture has been based on scarcity or what we're missing - population, capital, etc - and ota is based on the amazing abundance and plentiful talent and resources we do have.
It struck me over the holiday break that there was almost certainly a translation for 'ota' which comes from the Lakota-originated state names of (S&N) Dak'ota and Minnes'ota. It turns out there is a translation and it couldn't be more appropriate.
In the Lakota language, ota simply means 'many, plentiful, abundant.' Amazing how the answers are sometimes hiding in plain sight.
Deliverables: Take the steps to share the message of ota/abundance with the entire three state region. Host the most successful ota event to date on March 15. Complete an initial community map of 1,500 ota-ns.
///
Enough from me. You'll hear plenty more about all of this throughout the year.
What's your focus for 2013? How can I help you reach your goals?