\n It is, for me, that most wonderful time of the year. I have come to love this part of the seasonal cycles, when the current year turns into the new. I\u2019ve taken to hiding myself away* for about a week, spending time with my nuclear and extended family. This year\u2019s retreat from the every day comes at the end of a fairly* tumultuous year for me, with many changes and shifts in what I do, how I do it, where I do it, and with whom*. So, my annual tradition should be of even greater benefit than before.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n I take this time away from the routine (and the non-routine!) to well and truly reflect and reconsider the past year. This is not a navel-gazing, incense smoke-filled event; rather, it\u2019s often as not while taking a hike* or a brisk 211-degree Fahrenheit shower*. It\u2019s when I can be in a place, both physically and psychologically, where I\u2019m not pulled out of my thoughts by the perpetual and, for me, insistent and irresistible makes-Mahoney-even-dumber-phone.* This is intentional time away, designed for focus, is unlike the experience I wrote about earlier this year, where I entered into this state of mind unexpectedly while performing some hard graft in the yard. It\u2019s no less useful and impactful for the intentionality, I should note. In fact, where the unexpected slips into this state of mind come as a welcome surprise, this dedicated and anticipated time away sets the stage for those slips to yield the positive impact it does.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n So, what do I do and how do I do it?*\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n One thing I don\u2019t do is sweat this. I\u2019m not put out if my reflection and planning aren\u2019t complete by the time our time away is complete. The focus is not on getting the task done by when, it\u2019s creating the time and mental space to start the reflection and planning. I\u2019m always going back over my goals and next-right-thing to do\/perform\/complete\/start, and I\u2019m comfortable with only having an outline by the time I\u2019m heading back south. What I will do under those circumstances is find time every day to approximate the conditions that I\u2019ve found to be conducive to my process: clear the decks (much more temporarily, any ways) walk outside, write, stay aware, and while I have finished this process when back in the office I\u2019ve also found this is a more fluid and effective process when I\u2019m \u201cworking\u201d on this when at home.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n My plans are not the stuff of legend. I have goal to take over the Western World, or to create the Next Big Thing or Business Model. My goals are far more humble and pedestrian, which is not to say they aren\u2019t important, challenging, or simple. They do tend to be grounded in the same three areas: My work (and professional development), my mind*, and my family. I\u2019ve found that these three areas of primary focus entail more than enough areas of specific activity and opportunity to keep me busy for many, many years. The challenge of paring down the list of potential goals to the final annual set for a given year is where I find myself spending much time. I\u2019ve found this effort ends with a strong feeling of anticipation and excitement, one that carries me through my period of reflection and planning for the next year well into that next trip around the sun.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n How and when do you plan? What are your methods and resources? What\u2019s worked for you, and what hasn\u2019t? Comment, please! \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n Merry Christmas, and have a Happy and Healthy New Year!\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n *Really. I head to a place in upstate New York where the food is wonderful, the activities straight out of a Norman Rockwell (ask your parents about him, kiddies and millennials), the company a delight, and the internet and cellular service non-existent. It\u2019s a g-d delight!\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n *OK, tremendously!\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n *This refers to the colleagues with whom I work and collaborate \u2013 get you head out of the gutter!\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n *OK, walk. But it\u2019s in the woods! On trails! Sometimes with icy patches!\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n *212 degrees is just a shade too warm for me.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n *You\u2019ve met me. It\u2019s clearly not a smart phone if I have it, amiright?\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n *In my mind\u2019s ear I hear Frank Sinatra singing, \u201cdoo bee doo bee doo,\u201d when I read that question I\u2019ve just posed. And now you do, too, don\u2019t you. SorryNotSorry.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n *Could we have more names for the same thing?!?\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n *And by clear<\/em>, I mean tell<\/em><\/strong> them. It\u2019s a non-negotiable for me.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n *I\u2019m a fountain pen guy, and my favorite is a solid black Kaweco Student, fine point nib, and Fahrney\u2019s blue-back ink.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n *I know it\u2019s been out for a while, but I recently grabbed a copy of Sinek\u2019s Infinite Game, and I think that\u2019s this trip\u2019s serious read, for context.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n *I expect your positive triggers will be somewhat different from mine.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n \n *What little is left needs much support and buttressing!\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It is, for me, that most wonderful time of the year. I have come to love this part of the seasonal cycles, when the current year turns into the new. I\u2019ve taken to hiding myself away* for about a week,… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4bqFE-5R","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.surveyyoda.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.surveyyoda.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.surveyyoda.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.surveyyoda.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.surveyyoda.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=363"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.surveyyoda.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":364,"href":"https:\/\/blog.surveyyoda.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/363\/revisions\/364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.surveyyoda.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.surveyyoda.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.surveyyoda.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}