Onward! On Purpose…
I’ve been a user of the Theme System created by CGP Grey and Myke Hurley since it’s inception. Looking back on the last few years of it being a part of my daily life I can confidently say it has been one of the strongest tools I’ve used to shape the direction and success of my journey in life.
In brief, a yearly theme is a word or phrase that you choose to help give shape and direction to your life over the course of a year. Your theme serves as a guide aides you as you make decisions about how you expend your time, energy and effort day to day in the year.
In 2022 I chose the year of Foundation. I had spent the previous years recovering from and working through the the fallout of the hardest year of my life. I had reached the point where I was no longer being tossed and turned by the winds and waves of the life I had created by accident and had decided that it was time to lay something down that I would build the rest of my life on. Hence, The Year of Foundation. I spent 2022 looking at the roots of my life and everything that I did over the unfolding of that year was with the image of setting the foundation for the rest of my life.
In 2023 I chose the Year of Intention. I had been successful at placing some very key anchors in my life regarding my beliefs, my habits, understanding the core principles that drove me forward and finding the things most essential to keep in my life. It was time to move forward. I was going to do it with intention. Whatever happened in my life I was either going to choose it or I was going to work through the things I couldn’t choose with intention.
In 2024 I chose the Year of Connection. This year surprised me. I meant to build on the life I had set up with the previous years themes and was intent on working to broaden and deepen my connection to my wife, children, family, friends, communities and teammates. It was a great theme and I was wildly successful at strengthening my relationships with the people in my life and adding many new and wonderful people to my experience here.
The surprise for the the year came very near the end when I started realizing that I was also connecting with myself in ways that I had never done before. Each year of pursuit to a theme was serving to peel back the decades of life lived by chance and not by choice. Underneath all of those years of accidental decisions I started to see the person I was at birth. The very core and root of who I am. In 2024 I set out to have a year of connection and that led me to connect with me.
It’s January 2, 2025 as I write this. I know many people out there are setting goals and resolutions for the New Year. I also know that majority won’t get much farther than setting those goals and resolutions. This is why a theme can be beneficial. It takes the goals, resolutions, wishes and dreams and puts them under one roof. It allows for the reality of life to exist and NOT take you away from what you really want - growth.
If you want to know more about the Theme System, CGP Grey and Myke Hurley have it covered here. If you like what you see and want to work with with someone that can help get you focused on a theme schedule some time with me here.
