kevin donaldson

Another great RSA clip overlaying a discussion by Sir Ken Robinson on Changing the Educational Paradigm.

For the past few years I have been doing a personal year end retrospective.  Its a fun and relaxing exercise to do over the holidays as you sip on a warm drink, enjoy the Christmas season, and prepare to kick things back into gear in the new year.  Here are a sample list of questions that I have collected and use to carry out this exercise.  I like to write down my answers to some of these so I can then go back and look at them next year.  Some I just think through.   You can do it solo or go through some of them with a good friend.  (Lance - I will miss doing this with you this year!)

Looking Back...

• What is the greatest lesson you learned this year that you never want your kids to forget?
• How might you have behaved or acted differently in 2010 if you had to do it over again
• Looking back over the year what did you set out to do that you didn’t do and why?
• What key discipline did you live out this past year that had significant impact on your life?  What was the impact?
• What are you most proud of this year?
• What was the biggest triumph this year?
• What were the key surprises (good or bad) that happened this year?
• Which relationship in your life grew this year and which regressed?
• If you could go back to the beginning of this year what piece of advice would you give yourself? Why?
• Looking back, what was the overarching theme for this year? / What one word best sums up your 2010 experience?
• What was the greatest lesson you learned in 2010?
• What was the most loving service you performed in 2010?
• What is your biggest piece of unfinished business in 2010?
• What are you most happy about completing in 2010?
• Who were the 3 people that had the greatest impact on your life in 2010?
• What was the biggest risk you took in 2010?
• What was I worrying about at this time last year, and how have things changed?
• What are my current allergies (emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and physically)?
• What compliments would you have liked to receive in 2010?
• What compliments would you like to have given in 2010?
• What was the smartest decision you made in 2010?
• What else do you need to do or say to be complete with 2010?

Looking Ahead...

• What would you like to be your biggest triumph in 2011?
• What advice would you like to give yourself in 2011?
• What is the major effort you are planning to improve your financial results in 2011?
• What would you be most happy about completing in 2011?
• What major indulgence are you willing to experience in 2011?
• What would you most lie to change about yourself in 2011?
• What are you looking forward to learning in 2011?
• What do you think your biggest risk will be in 2011?
• What about your work, are you most committed to changing and improving in 2011?
• How should I control/adjust my rhythm/pace in 2011?
• What is one as yet undeveloped talent you are willing to explore in 2011?
• What brings you the most joy and how are you going to do or have more of that in 2011?
• Who or what, other than yourself, are you most committed to loving and serving in 2011?
• What one word would you like to have as your theme for 2011?

In the creative economy you use your mind to solve interesting and challenging problems at work.  For most, working with your hands involves fingers on a computer or drawing ideas on a whiteboard.  We use our mind much more than our physical bodies, but I feel that humans were meant to use both.    In past generations it was the other way around - all physical labor and very little mental stimulation.  Not good either, but in the right quantities physical labor can be invigorating.  I don't the made up physical activity of going to a gym, but real physical work.  Humans have hands and limbs for a reason - we were meant to use them.  I think that is why I enjoy simple activities such as gardening, or building a patio. 

I recently moved to Bend Oregon for a new job.  I am staying in temporary housing for a few weeks until we find a rental and our furniture gets moved.  The house is very modern but also has a wood stove in the family room in addition to the heating system.  Out back there is a wood shed of sorts, so I went out to get some wood to bring in for the wood stove.  The logs were a little big, so I looked around and found an axe.  I then proceeded to chop wood, and it was intensely satisfying!  The feel of the wood handle in my hands, the sense of power as the axe head hits the wood and the pieces explode off to the sides as the energy was transferred from my arms, through the axe to the wood.   I reminded me of growing up in Southern Ontario (Canada) watching my dad chop wood in the fall and we would stack it in piles in the field behind our house to let it dry for future winters.  We would then take wood from the oldest stack (dryest) and bring it in by wagon behind the tractor and put in the basement to be used in our wood furnace for the winter. 

Maybe its the memories or maybe it was the physical exertion, but it felt good.