Each year, I declare a theme for myself to help focus my decisions. I was walking through Homesense the other day looking for wine glasses and came across a great canvas. SHOULD, WOULD and COULD were all written down, but all were crossed out. The remaining word was DID. I knew then that 2016 is the year of action for me.
Each year, I declare a theme for myself to help focus my decisions. I was walking through Homesense the other day looking for wine glasses and came across a great canvas. I snapped a photo of it because the message was succinct and expressed what I had been struggling to put into words. SHOULD, WOULD and COULD were all written down, but all were crossed out. The remaining word was DID.
The time leading up to the new year is always exciting for me. It’s when I allow myself some time to reflect on the successes of the closing year, what worked and did not work, and a focus for the upcoming year.
My plan for this year (which is similar to others years) is to think of what would fuel me on a personal and emotional level. From there, I can make a declaration of how I want the year to go, after which I can create action items to ensure that the year aligns with the declared theme.
Well, it’s time for something new. 2013 was a year of very interesting and unexpected changes. I hope 2014 will be one of great changes. One of my many goals for the upcoming year is to overhaul my digital life. This is no small undertaking! I’ve already been addressing this task since the clock hit midnight and it’s proving to be a nightmare. It started with an email migration gone wrong. At some point, my photos will be imported to Lightroom instead of iPhoto. I want to tackle online security with a complete update of my passwords and and exploration of data encryption. I know, it all sounds fun!
And then there’s my blog, which has becoming an important part of my life and my digital online presence. I write to recount the adventures and misadventures in my life. I set goals, create lists, track fitness, and write about distant places. Beyonce has received several shot-outs on here, so obviously I treat this blog as gold. Writing keeps my thoughts focused and oftentimes I find the process cathartic.
I’ve come a long way in my personal blogging. I remember wanting to find a way to tell my family about my adventures when I lived in London in 2006. At that time, Yahoo 360 was available and accessible. I really enjoyed writing while I was over there, especially since there were many days of solitude outside of work. I wrote about how I set off the fire alarm at the School of Pharmacy where I worked, and was caught on camera in a mad panic. My adventures took me to Leeds Castle, the Cotswolds, and on a Harry Potter tour across England. I travelled to Alicante, Spain to visit a friend who was there attending a conference and that’s where I developed a love for mojitos. I spent a lovely day with a Korean girl exploring great altitudes near Interlaken, Switzerland, and studied French in Montreaux. I’m writing a brief account here because unfortunately I lost that blog. Yahoo 360 shut down and with it, my blog posts vanished. Back in Canada, I decided to restart another blog, this time with Blogger, which eventually became part of Google. Blogger has been a great platform to discuss the amazing experiences I’ve had in Alberta: Hiking. Friendships. Travel. The Big Mountain Challenge. The list goes on.
And now, third time’s a charm. For a while I’ve considered taking my blogging even further. I have no idea what that means, really, but I’m convinced that a self-hosted blog is the way to go. As 2014 was approaching, I figured: this is the year. I’ll learn to build a website, host it, and explore blogging using WordPress. At the time of writing this, the new blog is in rough shape as the migration of my posts didn’t go as planned. It’ll be a project in progress for the next little while, but I’m excited about it! The new website is:
So why InspirationRick? It’s been my Twitter handle and Instagram profile name for quite some time. The name actually came about as a joke one day. A few years ago, I was hardcore into the fitness program P90X to the point where a few friends thought I put them to shame. This was not true, but alas, they remarked that I somehow inspired them to step it up. I sent them a photo with two thumbs up, a rainbow, and a magic star. From then on, the InspirationRick nickname was born.
Here we are years later, and to me, InspirationRick means something different, yet personal. It’s a reminder to keep my eyes and heart open for the people, opportunities, experiences, and adventures that inspire me to face this world head-on with the finite time I have. It’s a reminder that I need to slow down and smell the proverbial roses, and the world will give back in kind for the soul. It’s a reminder that even though the world is large, there’s never a shortage of inspiration around me, whether an arm’s length away or a far off destination. It’s a reminder to appreciate the friends and family who I love. Their love is the most inspiring of all.
We’re all faced with amazing things around us. We just need to pay attention.
And if something I experience results in a glimmer of inspiration for someone else, then that’s not a bad thing either :).
Rick
Each year I spend some time over the holidays to think about the upcoming year. I tend not to think about resolutions, which in my mind, have a connotation of success or inevitable failure. Instead, I like to outline my focus for the coming year. Think of it as a vision statement that guides my goals. It’s important to jot these things down because ideas swirling in my head result in little action. Writing down my areas of focus act as a roadmap for the journey throughout the year.
Throughout the ups and downs related to my job, my mind would wander to three main topics:
1) Travel
2) Health and Fitness
3) Financial Freedom
And a fourth topic came to light over the past couple of months:
4) Managing my digital life
Travel
It’s no secret that I love to travel and experience new places, cultures, and all of the emotions that come with those adventures. I spent most of November reading the travel blogs of inspirational people who had left their growing careers for a nomadic lifestyle. Oftentimes we tell ourselves that there’s never enough money or time to travel. This is clearly false; if so many others can change their lifestyle to one of travel, then why can’t I? These people aren’t rich; they’ve just shifted priorities. These people don’t spend a fortune; they just adopt strategies for near-free flights and elite status upgrades. These people aren’t unique in thinking about an unconventional life; they’ve just decided to take action. And I’m jumping on that bandwagon: Travel Hacking. Couch Surfing. House Sitting. Remote Living. Discount travel of any kind. It’s all in the realm of possibility. I’m not saying I want to be completely nomadic and go off the grid, but I do want to travel more. That’s what it comes down to. And I’ll figure out how. Of course, I also have a list of places I would love to visit, but more on that in a subsequent blog post.
Health and Fitness
Admittedly, choosing to be as healthy as I can be and adapting my schedule to include fitness is a lifestyle, not a fad. So this focus is nothing new, but I write it down every year. I have been plagued with several injuries. My ankle hurts; I have tendonitis in my right elbow; curses to the chronic neck and back pain; and the entire right side of my body from the waist down feels like it requires some major physiotherapy. All excuses though! I’ll be taking control of these health issues in the New Year. A costly endeavour, but health comes first. Nutrition will also be a priority again this year after a miserable attempt last year. At the very least, I should try some new recipes. And then there’s my workout routine. I plan to complete P90X3, organize fitness challenges, and begin running again. It’s time to conquer some more races and inch my way toward that triathlon. Hiking will be a predominant activity as always.
Financial Freedom (well… sort of.)
No, I don’t want to retire… yet. But I will be exploring ways to add value to my current skills through workshops and certificates while I expand into contract work. This involves learning about small business ownership and how I can offer my statistical and data analysis services remotely. I also plan to look into the process of becoming a Beachbody coach and what all of that entails. Financial freedom is definitely a work in progress, but it’s on my radar this year.
Managing My Digital Life
This will be ongoing, but I’m so bogged down with different emails, software that I don’t use to its potential, gigabytes of photos that are spiralling out of organizational control, and an online presence that requires full-time hours to manage. There has to be a way to make things easier. There just has to be.
And those are the 4 areas of focus. Everything sounds fine and good, but how do I translate these points into actionable goals? I use the SMART acronym, of course. SMART goals are ones that are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time Oriented. I’ll be creating my SMART goals within the next few days.
So what will 2014 bring?
A lot of excitement! I know there will be many great experiences and changes as always. It will be busy, but I’ve come to realize I’m at my best when I’m busy. However the year unfolds, I know it will be a good and overall positive 2014.
How is it that the years just seem to fly by? I guess with age, time seemingly passes more quickly. That doesn’t mean that life gets any more dull! On the contrary. I’m hoping for a wonderful 2013 filled with all the ups and downs that make life worth living (cough cliché). With that said, hoping for a wonderful year is very different than taking actions for a wonderful year. I joked with some people that I would be coming up with vision and mission statements in order to promote action. That’s probably more formalized than how I would like to approach the year; however, I do enjoy creating lists, setting goals, and documenting progress, so perhaps it is appropriate to think about 2013 in the context of a few important focal points rolled into a personal vision. How do I want to approach the next 365 days? I take this question fairly seriously, but not in a new year’s resolution sort of way. I feel like the holiday season provides an opportunity to reflect on the past year, to become (re)grounded by family and friends, and to think about the upcoming choices and attitude of the next year.
2012 was the year to be inspired by love; love for the things I choose to do, the experiences for which I yearn, and the relationships that are so important in my life. I also wanted to be more introspective and try to understand and trust the emotions that the year would throw at me. In retrospect, I experienced things within and beyond my control that caused strong emotional responses, both incredible and not so good. 2012’s goal to be “inspired by love” did not end last night at midnight, and it’s something I will be working on in the coming year. That aside, it was a great year with some important life changes, as well as amazing experiences like the Banff Challenge and the Inca Trail hike. I wonder what exciting things will happen next!
When I was thinking about my vision statement for 2013, I began reflecting on the important points on which I wanted to focus. There were many jumbled thoughts…
Action. Complacency is not an option. As someone once told me, “Do something and something will happen”. Life offers so much opportunity, and it’s really a shame not to take advantage of what’s in front of me. Don’t waste time! Time, once it’s gone, is something I can’t get back. In that regard, I truly want to live life as if it were my last day. I’ve updated my list and I’m ready and committed to crossing things off. And for the things not on my list that will present themselves within the next year- I’m ready to seize the opportunities and embrace the adventure.
Financial Control. I need to get a better handle on my own finances. This includes monitoring my spending over the next month, cutting costs where necessary, and creating a budget to follow. My list includes paying off certain loans by the end of the year, and I’m going to do my best to make that happen.
Health and Fitness. I know the importance of preventive health. This includes regular, scheduled physical activity (because for me, without a schedule, it won’t get done). But it has to be within the restrictions of my never-ending injuries. Exercise makes me feel so much better about myself. I can’t fail on this. I need to push myself even more. Sleep needs to be higher on the priority list. I also want nutrition to be extremely important, which involves actually learning about nutrition, understanding the relationship between diet and exercise, and implementing new recipes!
The Outdoors. Push myself outside of my comfort zone even more. Explore. Experience. Enjoy. Travel. Be in awe.
Ownership. Own my choices, and be honest with myself. Acknowledge there are things I cannot control; just work on ways to be okay with myself and my own choices. Know and/or create my own boundaries. Again, own my choices, and be honest with myself.
Peace.
So what will 2013 bring? My personal vision is to work toward achieving a sense of peace while living a life dedicated to honesty, commitment, challenge and happiness. I think the extent of this will become more clear as time progresses, but it involves staying true and honest with myself and with the people in my life; committing to the improvement of myself, my relationships, my health and my fitness; facing challenges head on, whether they are personal, financial or professional; and remembering that I am the only person responsible for my own happiness. This approach to the year may sound lofty, involved, and me-centric, but we work the hardest for the best things in our life, and this is where I feel focus and work are needed. My hope is that other aspects of my life will fall into place, and my actions will be aligned with this goal. However the year unfolds, I know it will be a good and overall positive 2013.
HIKES & HAMSTRINGS 