For several years I have made a resolution to create an intentionally slower life with more space in it. It is a resolution I have never kept. 2017 was no exception. 2017 has been packed so full of experiences that I have coined it as the year I packed 10 years of experiences into 1 year. It was exhausting and exhilarating at the same time, with several bucket list items and astounding personal growth happening.

When I looked back of the year I created a categorized, bulleted list of significant moments and achievements thinking it may be more digestible than writing everything out….the list is several pages long!The following is my attempt to summarize said list into easily digestible chunks.

How did I do on my 2017 goals?

I did not publish any 2017 goals, but I did write down and track them myself. Of the 15 goals I had I accomplished 7 of them, those 7 being the most important and the others being pushed out by life priority changes. Here are the goals I achieved.

Spend more quality time with Alix. Because she is was attending night classes as well as working nights time together was at a premium but we were able to make the most of the time we did have.

Learn better communication methods with Alix. Learning to communicate better with your spouse is a lifelong commitment to improvement. Alix and I have had several amazing breakthroughs in our marriage and communication this year. There is much room for improvement and I believe we have created the start of a solid foundation that will hold us through the future.

Help Alix build a successful business. Alix Lularoe business has come a long way since the beginning of the year. My “help” has mostly been through photographing her modeling outfits, which I am surprisingly good at. I have helped her brainstorm ideas for better customer engagement and setup for big events. Schoolwork has been the limiting factor in business growth. 2018 brings with it many great new growth opportunities.

Read two books per month, one educational and one fun. NAILED IT SO HARD! In January I read 4 books. The most books in one month was 8 in November, with an average of 4 per month. Because I was hitting my goal I picked up a Kindle (used, because I did not know if I would like it. I cannot recommend it enough!) which allowed me to accelerate my reading goal significantly.

Do another trip to Uganda. I joined the September medical trip. It was simply astounding. The clinic was able to serve 2,121 people from the Kampala slums in 4 days. At the orphanage/boarding school we supplied the new girls dorm with hundreds of mattresses, the younger girls with dresses, and the younger kids with two new pairs of shoes.

Become a leadership coach! This was the goal that popped up partway into the year. It excited and transformed my life, and is also the reason the other items on my goal list were deprioritized and bumped off.

Personal Growth

This is THE big one! Personal Growth consumed 2017 for me, with breaks to go sailing.

2016 was a bad year for me, personally and professionally. I tried to write a year in review post but I could not figure out how to do it without spewing massive amounts of negativity across the interwebs. I quite frankly hated my life. I had turned into an incredibly negative and bitter person, completely opposite of who I am.

I could not continue living that way, something had to change. After spending many hours in personal reflection I realized the root of the issue stemmed with who was leading my life. Instead of taking responsibility for my own growth and happiness I had handed it over to my employer. Not good. I had to get out of that rut and started the process by reading through a couple of the classic leadership and communication books. What I learned floored me. I knew to be happy and successful again I needed to take back control of my personal rowth and development. I had on ordered several more books and lectures on leadership and communication and then a conversation with my CEO confirmed to me that I was on the right track.

I will post more about this separately (eventually) but to keep things short, as I started growing I hungered for more and search out where I could get the best training. In my search I bumped into John Maxwell again. John Maxwell has influenced lives of leaders around the globe and is considered to be the world’s #1 expert on leadership and communication. In 2011 John Maxwell created a program to train and certify leadership and communication speakers, teachers, and coaches. I joined. John Maxwell’s Team has created an astounding amount of amazing training material. Several months ago I completed the John Maxwell Team Certification and enrolled in the advanced mentorship.

I have seen spectacular changes in my life, my marriage, and my team at work through implementing lessons in my life. I love love love helping people unlock their potential. I believe it is the calling on my life. Starting as a side project in 2018 I will be providing training and coaching services to companies and individuals. If you or your company are interested in a free training session please get ahold of me on the contact page!

Professional Update

As I mentioned in the personal growth section above, my work at WebDevStudios has really kicked up this year. I have aggressively implemented what I have learned and even started doing some internal training. I would like to see leadership development expanded to encompass the entire company in 2018.

Some quick stats:

• My team touched 22 projects!!! That is a significant number My team is the best! I am incredibly proud of and honored to serve with them. The next closest team clocked in at 16 projects (I think), with 13 following on their heels.
• I interview 5.5 people (That I remember, there may have been more! I read through dozens of applications).
• Hired and trained 4 new team members.
• Started doing internal leadership development.

Boating Update

Somehow in the midst of everything else I found time for boating activities. November 2016 I acquired part ownership of Billabong, a beautiful Lancer 36. She needed some serious work to be “ship-shape”. The first thing I did was to learn everything I could about diesel motors and pull Billabong’s motor and rebuild it with fellow Shilshole Bay Yacht Club member Harold Baldwin. It was a long, slow, rewarding process that I still have yet to document. 7 months from the time I took ownership the motor was back in the boat and she was ready to leave the slip for (my) first time.

We entered into the Ballard Cup races and I was able to take the existing race crew from a 5-6 place team immediately to a 3rd place team. By the end of the series we were handily in 1st. Not bad for never having piloted a boat in a race before! I credit it entirely to my racing mentor Joe Bozick..

In the freshly rebuild sailboat, Alix and I were able to do a few weekend cruises with the Shilshole Bay Yacht Club. They were a ton of fun and Alix is enjoying sailing much more now too. This summer we used the cruises as a shakedown of the boat and identified several key upgrades for the boat (such as fixing a rudder leak!).

Wrap Up

There is a ton more that I could write about but these cover the major highlights. 2018 will build upon the foundation of things that have happened in 2017 to propel Alix and I further and faster into our future. More to come on that soon!