2018: A Year of Opportunity
While enjoying the company of some good friends and family during this year’s New Years Eve celebrations, we broached the topic of New Years resolutions. Flippantly, I explained I am not a fan of resolutions, preferring instead to build disciplines to aid in achieving goals. In retrospect, my answer was short-sighted and missed the point. Each coming year brings new opportunities and should be met with purpose, hope, and excitement.
That light conversation encouraged me to think about 2017 with greater introspection and about 2018 with more intentionality. 2017 was filled with countless blessings I certainly do not merit, taught me many lessons (both the easy and hard way), grew my beautiful family by one, took us through a move to a new job, introduced us to many wonderful people, and increased my passion for self-initiated learning. As I look forward to 2018, I hope to build upon many things from 2017 while stretching myself in new ways. Below are some of my goals for 2018.
Faith
- Read the entire Bible in a year.
- Approach growing my faith with the same structure I approach developing my profession.
- Incorporate faith-based activities outside of church into my family’s routine.
Family
- Cherish the moments I often view as routine or ordinary while remembering how quickly time passes.
- With greater frequency, creatively make my wife feel as special as she is to me.
- Purchase a house and make it a home.
- Improve work life balance.
Fitness
- Complete a marathon in 3:45.
- Run 700 miles, cycle 400 miles, and develop the discipline of weight lifting.
- Successfully complete the ORT.
Professional
- Publish at least 2 articles and routinely write for public consumption.
- Read broadly incorporating history, faith, economics, leadership, and geopolitics.
- Counsel more effectively by scheduling in advance, preparing fully, and providing notes beforehand — read Raymond Kimball’s Book The Army Officers Guide to Mentoring.
- Complete 3 graduate courses towards my masters degree.
- Increase the scope of influence of the Medical Service Corps Leader Development Facebook page through key leader engagements.
- Approach current mentorship relationships with greater structure and grow the number of junior leaders with which I’m intentional.
- Solicit, gather, and share insights relevant to the force through the Medical Service Corps Leader Development Facebook page.
Are you approaching the new year with a plan? Or are you simply hoping it will work out — Remember, hope is not a method!
