The Dream Dean

I know this is a little late, but we are now into our eighth month of 2025 – less than 4 months to go. Imagine…2026 is a little more than 100 days away. Which makes me wonder…what do I want to the next 100 days to look like for me?

Here’s my August 2025 reflection…

Reflection Questions…

• What has been most consistent for you since the start of 2025? OR What is different about you since the start of 2025?
• What was the biggest change, your greatest achievement, and/or your most profound progress made in August 2025?
• What was a challenge/adversity you had to face, an obstacle you had to overcome, or problem/issue you had to deal in August 2025? What did you learn from the experience?
• If you were being bold and focused, what action could you take in September 2025 that could profoundly impact your life (in a positive way)?

Answers…

• What has been most consistent for you since the start of 2025? OR What is different about you since the start of 2025?
  • I’ve continued to move forward on my yearly workout goal. I decided in August to try to achieve the same results in 2025 that I had in 2024 – 800 miles walking, running, elliptical, and/or running and 1,000 miles indoor/outdoor cycling. Right now, I’m on pace to achieve this goal.
  • I decided to do away with my extensive goal list – and just focus on living in the present moment. For example, instead of focusing on a specific number of trips with my wife Rebecca, we’ll just get away as much as we can. It seems like I have less pressure now so I can enjoy each moment and each day. I also decided not to pressure myself on getting speaking gigs; I just want to take on speaking gigs as they come.
• What was the biggest change, your greatest achievement, and/or your most profound progress made in August 2025?
  • I created four new tools/activities:
    • Journey to Authentic Living Scale
    • Gifts to Share With the World
    • Essential Strengths for Work
    • Problems for Individuals and the World
    • The first tool (Journey to Authentic Living Scale) helps people define where they are at in life, then – for those in the helping professions – define the groups they’d like to help. The last three tools could be used to help people define their gifts and strengths, then how they use their gifts and strengths to solve problems for people.
  • Ivor and I are now up to 12 “The Catalyst Way” podcast videos.
  • I published my first article on LinkedIn – The College Paradox: Academic Success vs Personal Transformation.
• What was a challenge/adversity you had to face, an obstacle you had to overcome, or problem/issue you had to deal in August 2025? What did you learn from the experience?
  • I am not doing a very good job with maintaining my weight. I actually got it down to 204 pounds, but then Harris Teeter (a local supermarket) had a sale on Doritos – buy two, get three free! So, I have 15 bags of Doritos that just need to be eaten! I’ve started to increase the number of steps/workouts each week, so I’m hoping that the increase can help me keep my weight down (I’m not giving up my Doritos).
• If you were being bold and focused, what action could you take in September 2025 that could profoundly impact your life (in a positive way)?
  • Publish at least one article on LinkedIn related to my thoughts on transforming higher education.
  • Do specific activities to make my shoulders stronger (resisted shoulder rotations) and my legs stronger (seated chair squats).

It’s time to take things to another level in September!