I’m writing this post as I find myself in a space that I don’t really find myself in regularly. There have been a number of major events in the past year of my life that have kept me “busy”, per-se:

• Dealing with a major accident and a long road to recovery.

• The inevitable business chaos at the start of the fiscal year.

• Completing a significant renovation to our home (new siding and windows, yay!).

As a lot of this starts to settle down and I look ahead to the summer season, I’m finding that my task list and list of projects is starting to wind down a bit. There’s part of me that thinks that I would enjoy this, as I tell folks that I operate best when I don’t have a lot “on my plate”.

However, I’m finding as some of these major initiates start to settle, I find myself in a place of discomfort. It’s almost as if my mental state defaults to being busy and having a long list of tasks/projects ahead of me. This is likely true due to spending 20+ years in the tech industry where the work never stops, dealing with young kids and being a homeowner.

I realize that a lot of life comes in cycles, and this is just naturally part of that cycle. Heck, I wrote back in March of 2021 that I was doing a “whole lot of nothing” at that point in my life, and it’s been a wild ride since then (navigating the pandemic, taking on a new role at work, purchasing a home and much more). I need to reflect on this and welcome the fact that I might be moving into a slower cycle in my life right now, where I don’t have a ton of big projects or initiatives. I should enjoy this time as it won’t last forever and I’ll likely have big problems to solve in the not-to-distant future.

I’m also taking this into the context of my values for this year that I wrote about in my previous post, and seeing where these values intersect with my thinking on the current cycle of my life:

• Adventure - Having less big projects gives me more time to explore and live an adventurous life in nature, particularly as the summer is approaching here in British Columbia.

• Order - Much of my life is organized well now, particularly after the chaos of a major renovation. I should be grateful for this.

• Wellbeing - This is tricky as I balance the fact that I’m navigating a cycle of growth here, while also being mindful of its impact on my mental wellbeing. I think the awareness that I have is actually a good thing.

Who knows what the summer holds for me and how it will impact my lists and projects for the remainder of the year. Heck, I was blindsided by a major injury last year so let’s hope that doesn’t happen again! In the meantime, I plan to lean-in to this part of the cycle and continue to challenge myself to be OK with less on my plate. I will fill up at some point in the future, no doubt!

Another year is almost in the bag! Yeesh - 2023 was super rough personally but also a year of growth and excitement. Much like every year, I’m thrilled to share my top albums of the year. Similar to last year, I find myself listening to music less and just enjoying quiet time more!

I think it’s interesting to note here that for the first time in a long time, I only have one hip-hop record listed in my top hits. I’m finding that I’m definitely moving away from newer hip hop and embracing a lot of my rock and punk roots with some of my choices this year.

10. Rancid - Tomorrow Never Comes
9. Metallica - 72 Seasons
8. Foo Fighters - But Here We Are
7. Macklemore - BEN
6. Queens of the Stone Age - In Times New Roman
5. The Glorious Sons - Glory
4. The Dirty Nil - Free Rein to Passions
3. The Gaslight Anthem - History Books
2. Blink-182 - ONE MORE TIME
1. The Hives - The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons

Wishing everyone who reads this a happy holiday season and all the best in 2024!

It’s been quite a few months since my last update on how my summer has gone. If you need a refresher, be sure to check out my post: Summer Summer "Break" & Gratitude. It’s been a ride!

Recovery Updates

As I start to approach the 5 month mark since my arm surgery, it’s incredible to think how far I have come. I was at 4 weeks for my last post and was barely able to bend or extend my arm. Since then, I have had multiple rounds of physiotherapy and daily movement to get back into some sense of normal activity. I’m lucky that I was able to invest in a bike trainer to be able to ride inside safely during my recovery. Since then, I have been soaking up as much of the “nice weather” (I use that term loosely) in Greater Vancouver as possible. This has included some pretty epic bike rides around the Tri-Cities, as well, trying out night-riding for the first time!

While the physical side of my recovery has been progressing, I am admittedly really struggling with the mental aspect. I’m starting to transition from the recovery portion of my injury to the integration, where I truly get to understand how this accident will impact my life in the future.

In particular, this is my first surgery in which I have had a metal implant for a part of my recovery. This implant is also unique in that it’s relatively easy to feel where the metal was drilled into my elbow. Not fun!

A New Mindset

With everything I have gone through this year (aforementioned injury, craziness of the tech industry), I have found that I ave developed a bit of a better mindset in my life. In particular, I don’t sweat the small stuff as much as I used to.

This is particularly becoming more apparent in my day-to-day work. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still working hard and contributing as much as I ever have to the company that I work for. But what i’m finding is that I’m much more mindful of the work that I do day to day, what my priorities are and where I’m focusing my efforts. I mentioned earlier in the year that I moved to an individual contributor role, which has made it a bit easier for me to put some guardrails around the work that I’m doing.

I recently finished reading The Good Enough Job and it has provided a lot of good context for me and how I think about work in my life. In particular, I’m no longer going to tie my work so closely to my identity. Instead, I’d like to focus my identity on areas that I have a bit more control of in my life…

Yearly Values Exercise

I traditionally take some time over the holiday break each year to do a ton of reflection, and that normally starts with a revisiting of my core values. Each year I tend I find to “refresh” my core values, revisiting what I had as my focus for the current year and see if they need to change or be updated. Given the above and my focus on finding my identity, I was inspired to do my yearly values exercise a bit early this year.

For 2024 I have settled on 3 core values that really speak to me in the current phase of my life:

• Adventure - I like exploring new areas, new challenges and the learning opportunities that come with them.

• Order - I thrive when there is structure in my life and things are in their right place.

• Wellbeing - I take care of my mind and my body and encourage others to do the same.

I’m really excited to see how these new values weave through my life in the next year, and how they can help me solidify a new identity outside of work!