The Dream Dean

Good day friends!

I’m going to share with you an article that got me thinking about my BHAG’s for 2023 and beyond (BHAG stands for “Big Hairy Audacious Goals”).

• You Can’t Do It All, So Prioritize Your Values – https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/automatic-you/202212/not-enough-hours-in-the-day-to-slay-your-to-do-list

In the article, the author shares that it’s good to prioritize values in three life domains – yourself, your work, and your relationships. Actually, it’s not much different than the three domains shared by Brian Johnson (Energy, Work, and Love) and Jonathan Fields (Vitality, Contribution, and Connection). And then, with Benjamin Hardy (and others) stating that you should have no more than 3 Goals (if you have more than three, you have zero), this is a GREAT place to start in deciding your priorities for 2023.

So, here’s what I came up with for my three:

• Yourself (Energy/Vitality): To become a competitive senior athlete. This year, I’m going to reduce my fitness/exercise goal so that I can spend more time competing in a variety of sports, driven by the North Carolina Senior Games. This year, I plan to compete in FIVE sports – tennis, pickleball, running (5K or 10K), bowling, and golf. I want to use this year to get a feel of competition again, as well as prep for Year 2 (compete at the state level) and Year 3 (compete at the national level). I’ve already started my Training for 3 of the events this past couple of weeks, where I’ve played two rounds of golf, bowled 13 games, and jogged 7 miles over the past week! Here we go!
• Your Relationships (Love/Connection): To become a GREAT husband, dad, and LDC Tribe member/host. I will  share my grateful appreciation for all of the wonderful people in my life, letting them know how much I love them and how they positively contribute to my life. To let my wife Rebecca and dog Laci know that I love them every day. To text my daughters at least twice a month just to let them know that their dad loves them. And to make sure to appreciate the LDC Tribe members by providing resources and times for chat when needed.
• Your Work (Work/Contribution): This has been the hardest to define – not the work that I’m here to do, but how I want to do it. After my December LDC Training, it was clear what I want (and what I’m here) to do – to provide educators and community members with the tools and resources to define and live their SPARCK (Story, Purpose, Aspirations, Reflection, Connection, Kick-Start) to make the world a better place and create hope for a better future. And the foundation is Purpose – become the best version of yourself in service to something bigger than yourself. I’ve always felt that I needed to be in higher education in order to do this work and make an impact; I still want to be in higher education, but I also know that it needs to be under my terms, not under the terms of someone else. Being away for three weeks from my work at Davidson-Davie Community College made me realize that I need to really be engaged in Life Design Catalyst work on a grander scale – for starters, at the community college level where we can have a greater impact on communities, both the students who attend college and the people who live in the communities. I’m working on how that might look….

So, what about you? Can you identify one goal for 2023 for yourself, your work, or your relationships? Or maybe one from each of the three areas? If you need help, think about the questions from the last two posts – they might help get you started. Is there something that you need to keep doing that’s working for you? Or, is there something you need to stop doing that’s not working for you? Is there a relationship you want to develop – or one that you need to leave? And what about your work? Are there things you need to do to enhance your job to make what you do and how you serve better – or do you need to use 2023 to explore other options? What is it that you REALLY want for yourself and your life in 2023? Feel free to share one or all of your ideas – or send me a note (whjohnso@uncg.edu) and let’s talk. Happy New Year, dear friends!