Category: reflection
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Held Accountable
Goals hold no power if they exist as words only. You can make goals but they do not mean a thing if you do not actively try to meet them. (Yes, I resisted the temptation to add “if it ain’t got that swing.”) I have talked a lot about my goals for the year and…
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Relationship Building
My sister and I, as children and teenagers, frequently got into verbal arguments that escalated to the point of tears. I derailed many of the arguments with utter ignorance that others may view the world differently than I do. At other times, I selfishly wondered why Mom got upset upon coming home from a long…
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Goal Adjustment
For an achievement-minded person such as myself, adjusting a goal to a lower setting or eliminating it altogether often feels like failure. That contributes to my dilemma each year when it comes time to set resolutions or intentions as I described a couple months ago. Last month, I described the struggles I had meeting a…
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Crossing the Line and Repercussion
In previous posts I have described how things have happened at school that made me contemplate crossing “the line.” My professor from last semester described “the line” as your ethical tipping point. As a leader, as a person even, we have to make decisions as to what we will address or not address various issues…
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Telling the Story
Recently, I have read two books relating to genocide and the historiography thereof. One, by Deborah Lipstadt, sheds a light on Holocaust deniers. The other book details the Armenian Genocide and America’s relationship to the events and the aftermath. As an amateur historian and an Armenian, both books hit the sweet spot in my brain,…
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Long Term Financial Choices
In past years, I have declared financial goals or entertained long-term goals like financing adoption, purchasing a home entirely in cash, or pursuing FIRE So far, nothing has stuck. In the mean time, I set short term goals like building up a six month emergency fund or financing significant international trips. These short term goals…
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A Check-In On the Year
Although I do not plan to update every month this year, I think this first month merits a bit of reflection. This month has not gone according ot plan for a variety of reasons. Before I get too far in the year, I want to evaluate what went well and what may need adjustment. So…
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Tidying Up
If you approached high school Jen and told her that she would some day take pleasure in making things net, in tidying up, she would have silently scoffed at you. (High school Jen was too painfully shy to do anything more than shrug and try to extricate herself from a conversation with a stranger.) Yet…
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Limbo
During a recent casual conversation with some colleagues we talked about the uncertainty faced after high school or college graduation. To be exact, I listened as they expressed feeling completely lost even as they walkeda cross the stage to get their diploma, thinking, “now what?” Everything up until that point had been decided for them…
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Yearly Goals
Prepare for what might be my longest entry to date. 🙂 Over the years, I have wavered between making specific goals, setting intentions or focuses. I have set vague intentions and lost sight of my motivation for those intentions. Other times, I have fallen off the deep end on the other side and set too…