Upcoming Initiatives

This week left me with three days off, not much scheduled other than a somewhat overdue doctor's visit.  Much of this blank canvas of time went into the semiannual project development that I engage in every June and December.  In recent sessions I've pick twelve, a couple easy or with deadlines that I must meet.  These get done.  The more elaborate multiple aspect initiatives generally do not go to completion but they still get a due measure of effort.  Last week I explored cyberspace to try to figure out why so little comes to fruition.  To a large extent it seems to be related to picking end points over which I have no control.  My goal of catching ten fish resulted in none.  But I do not make fish take the lure.  A better approach would have been to go fishing a certain number of times, make a modification for each unsuccessful venture, and try out a specified number of locations.  I probably have less control over my weight than I might imagine so losing ten pounds may not be under my control.  Exercising and modifying what I eat is very much under my discretion so this year's goals will get modified to specify the exercise expectations and the dietary modifications, allowing the weight itself to go wherever nature intends it under the circumstances I create.

My template has changed from one modified by Covey's 7 Habits many years ago to categories that come across as more specified.  So with two days left before the first Sunday weekly planning specimen of implementation, here's how it looks:

Travel:  Visit three different museums which I've not visited previously  in three different towns.

Personal:  Engage in a program of healthy eating

Long term Activity:  Develop a comprehensive retirement plan with pursuit of three activities that can be carried forth to my retirement years.

Mental:  Develop the premier Jewish iconoclast blog filled with external comments.

Home:  Declutter part of the house for 45 minutes every Sunday.

Financial:  Make a donation to a worthy Jewish cause on the 20th of every month and send each organization a note of appreciation for what they do.

Friends:  Write to two Jewish thinkers per month.

Family:  Attend my son's graduation.

Health:  Exercise 15 minutes three days a week.

Large Purchase:  Remodel the kitchen.

Community:  Set aside my religious participation in AKSE in favor of a beneficial non-religious project.

New Frontier:  Begin writing the book that ultimately makes me famous.

I color code my projects and the daily activities that enable their pursuit.  No professional projects to pursue for the first time in many years.

We'll see how these dozen proceed over the next few months.