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Year of Legacy: Foundations [2024]

Published: September 30, 2023 (9 min read)

I’ve had many yearly themes over the years but always shied away to write about them in public. My good friend Jacob Pretorius has been on my case about posting my updates for years now. I think I finally owe him and, more importantly, myself this public update.

Who knows, maybe this resonates with someone else out there in the vast void of cyberspace.

Why Update in September?

You might be wondering why I’ve chosen September for this update, especially when many people typically set their yearly themes in January. There’s a simple reason: I find the “new year, new me” January hype to be more of a distraction than a motivation. September, which is also my birth month, gives me the space to reflect on the past year and strategize for the coming one without getting caught up in the global “resolution rush.” Plus, it’s close enough to the end of the year that I can start laying the groundwork for the months ahead.

Table of contents

Open Table of contents

My past Themes Campaigns:

I won’t go into too much detail on these past themes. Maybe one day I’ll update them from my old notes. For now, you’ll need to settle for a high-level RPG-themed summary:

[2018] Year of Action

Campaign status: Successful

This was my first theme. I see it as the “Tutorial” where I learned the basic controls of how this theme protocol works. I was very focused on learning to take decisive action

[2019] Year of Independence

Campaign status: Successful

Here, I aimed to break free from limiting systems and beliefs. This was my first ‘Boss Battle,’ testing the skills I picked up during my ‘Year of Action’

[2020] Year of Disposition

Campaign status: Failed

I had a very cluttered inventory at this point in my game of life. The aim was to help me discern what to keep and what to dispose of, both materially and metaphorically. The year ended up being more complex than I had anticipated, but even failed quests give valuable experience

[2021] Year of Command

Campaign status: Failed

This year was about taking control of the ‘gameplay,’ understanding the ‘meta,’ and being the strategist, not just the pawn. Although I failed this quest, I managed to allocate some attribute points to humility and adaptability

[2022 - 2023] No theme

Campaign status: AWOL

If I had to retroactively choose themes for these years, they would be the “Years of Grind.” So let’s call these the ‘Grinding Levels.’ They were tough but essential for earning the ‘experience points’ I needed for my next campaign

So in my game of life so far I’ve breezed through some campaigns and got owned in a few. The last couple have been a straight-up grind, but I’ve racked up some decent XP along the way. Which brings me to the next big campaign in my game of life: “Year of Legacy: Foundations”. Forget the side missions; I’m gearing up for end game content. It’s time to equip my best gear, distribute my attribute points and macro my skill combos.

New Campaign: [2024] Year of Legacy: Foundations

Campaign status: Active

Why Legacy?

At the age of 35, I’m just at a point in my life where I’m naturally drawn to contemplating what I want to leave behind for the generations that will follow me. My past themes have brought me success in many areas, and now it’s time to focus on laying a solid foundation for the future.

Why Foundations?

This Legacy theme will likely span multiple years, laying the foundation is the beginning. The first foundations I plan on focusing on include Finance, Family and Personal Mastery. I think these are critical areas that demand focus and effort at this stage of my life.

Also, Tagging “Foundations” at the end of the theme name allows me to keep the Legacy theme for multiple years and simply change the suffix. I built a foundational naming convention into my theme name. How’s that for meta?

Main Foundation Quests

Quest: Activate Interstellar Fiscal Firewall

Financial Foundation

Objective:

In times of volatile economies and unpredictable life events, ensuring financial security for myself and future generations is my top priority. The objective of this quest is to keep what I have, save what I’ve kept, and ensure what I manage to keep is passed on to my children.

Strategy

I’ll achieve this through four key areas:

I don’t have much more to share here right now as I’m still figuring out many of the details. Might cover more on this in the future.

Quest Rewards

Quest: Codify Home Base Protocol Codex

Family Foundation

Objective

Strengthening family bonds and protocols are crucial, especially when modern life pulls everyone in different directions. We have a lot of work to do in this area, and it’s not always easy to find the time with two young children in the home base, but we’re excited to start excavating the pit for this foundation.

Strategy

My wife and I have been listening to The Intentional Family Podcast and we can’t recommend it enough. Mike & Rachel are delightful and they share genuinely useful advice for enriching family life. If you have kids or you’re thinking about having kids, listen to this podcast.

Some plans we have for this quest are:

Keep doing

Start doing

Quest Rewards

Quest: Sustain Vitality Core Rotation

Personal Mastery Foundation

Objective

As I get older, maintaining a peak level of physical and mental health becomes more important each year. It is essential for everything else I aim to achieve.

Current State

To understand where I need to go, it’s crucial to know where I currently stand.

Strategy

My cardio and endurance is currently solid, but there’s room for improvement in core and strength training. My current goal is to run a 5km in 25 minutes. At the time of writing, my personal best for 5km is 26:45, avg. pace 5.21/km.

Focus Areas

  1. Physical Health
    • Keep Doing:
      • 3 jogs per week
    • Start Doing:
      • Maintain average of 30 pushups per day
      • Jog longer distances 1-2 times per week
      • Strength/Core training 3-4 times per week
  2. Mental Health
    • Keep Doing:
      • Reading for insights, not volume
    • Start Doing:
      • Meditation 4-5 times per week
      • Daily gratitude journaling
  3. Sleep & Recovery
    • Keep Doing:
      • No caffeine after 10am
      • Consistent bedtime of 9pm
      • Optimize for at least 7h 30min sleep per night (5× 90min sleep cycles)
      • No phone charging in bedroom
    • Start Doing:
      • Screen & bright light curfew 2 hours before bed
      • No alarm. Get up when I wake up, when the kids wake us up or, if it’s a school day, when it’s time to get ready for school
        • Sometimes I wake up at 2:30 or 3:30. On these days, I’ll schedule a nap into my day, if possible
  4. Productivity & Creativity

Quest Rewards

Side Quests

There are a few Side Quests I want to embark on during the next year that don’t fit in a specific Foundation area but as we know from playing any RPG game you get valuable experience and loot from side quest that usually helps you breeze through the main quest!

The following quests are tailored to level intentionality, consistency, focus and efficiency:

Quest Rewards:

Final Thoughts

As my game of life unfolds, the Year of Legacy: Foundations presents an exciting, yet challenging, campaign. With solid main and side quests laid out, the objectives are clear. The strategies are set, the goals are aligned, and the party—my family and I—are ready for this co-op adventure. And while there’s no guaranteed “win,” I am committed to gaining as much experience and skill points as possible in each area of my life.

While this campaign will indeed be demanding, it’s often the side quests that offer hidden rewards and character growth. These side quests—ranging from boosting traits like Intentionality and Consistency to fine-tuning Focus and Efficiency—are small but vital steps in achieving the larger quest objectives. In any game, it’s not just the epic battles but also the hidden puzzles, the occasional grinding, and the alliances you forge that contribute to a fulfilling gaming experience.

Assessment, Assembly, Action.
Whatever your task, you do three things. Start by assessing what you already have and what you’ll face, the problem. Then you plan with those variables in mind. Take what you have, get what you need, assemble things, people. Finally, you take action. Simple.

- Panam: Cyberpunk 2077

LFG?

If this journey resonates with you, I encourage you to join my party. Let’s share our quests, collaborate, and level up together in this complex game we all play—life.

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Updated: October 13, 2023