Themes

If you want to look back and what I set out to accomplish this year read the original post.

How did it really go?

Its that time of the year when you can sit back, reflect on the things you accomplished and wonder…what did I actually do? Where the f&ck did the year go?!?!?

If you look back at what I was hoping to do there was a heavy theme about spending more time in the shop creating and making things. IF anything this year, I spent noticeably LESS time in the shop. This is a failure on many levels. My stress increased and more time was spent sitting in front of a computer working.

The Theme System

In case you have missed it in the past, I’ve decided to switch from the usual goals for a year to a theme. Sure there are some measurement or ideas on where I would like something to go. But this is more about making choices and having some momentum towards a certain change in my life that I’d like to make. If you would like more on setting a theme for a year or season, I suggest you check out The Theme System or watch this quick video from their page:

If you want to find out what I wanted to accomplish, feel free to go out and read the original post. Hopefully it will shed some light on the ambitions I had towards the beginning of this yearly theme.

How did it really go?

To be honest, pretty good. Did I get as much done as I would have liked, no. There were a pile of must do items that piled up. But there were some things that I got to do that were just for fun. Mainly during my reCharge I found many projects that were just extra. Not that they were glamorous, but they were what I wanted to do and my wife wanted to do. Things that made this new property feel like home vs just a new house. Its been a lot of work, but its the little things that as I look around, I’m more at peace with what all is in place.

If you want to find out what I wanted to accomplish, feel free to go out and read the original post. Hopefully that will give you some insight into what I was thinking so we can cover how it actually went. It was filled with optimism, hope, a sense of change. It ended with only some of these things.

So how did it really go?

Some things this year were quite simply out of my control. The company went through a second round of layoffs. While my direct team was not impacted, there were others within our org that were. New positions were created as we restructured and many of my professional growth ambitions quite simply got put on the back burner. While I’m thankful to have a job, there are still some things that need to improve in 2024 in order for me to stay satisfied here. The structures that I worked to put in place have been helpful and hopefully career advancing. I was one of the few teams at the company that was hiring after the layoffs. There is still more to do and more projects to take on that keep me interested and at the company.

The Theme System

In case you have missed it in the past, I’ve decided to switch from the usual goals for a year to a theme. Sure there are some measurement or ideas on where I would like something to go. But this is more about making choices and having some momentum towards a certain change in my life that I’d like to make. If you would like more on setting a theme for a year or season, I suggest you check out The Theme System or watch this quick video from their page: