It’s Saturday morning after the first full work week of the year. I’m listening to David Bowie’s Blackstar.

It rained all through the night and it’s storming again now. The dog is climbing up on my chest because she’s afraid of thunder. I can hear the dishwasher running in the kitchen. Cars beeping in the driveway next door. Sirens on the loop.

I’m looking at my goals for the year and comparing them against the week I just had.

Do I have the right systems in place to get where I want to go?

Priorities for this year are straightforward:

Objective #1: Take my parents to the UK

My parents haven’t been out of the country since their honeymoon to Cancún in 1986. Seeing as this year will be their 40th wedding anniversary, it seems a fitting time for some celebratory travel. We’re hoping to tour some old sites in Northern England and Scotland.

Objective #2: Treat my health like it’s my job

Disease and disability will come for us all if we’re lucky enough to live into old age. Even the healthiest athletes can get side-swiped by cancers and conditions beyond their control. I’m not an athlete or a looksmaxxer or even trying to extend my longevity. But it’s clear to me my current lifestyle is setting me up for a world of pain.

I like to joke about being a “computer shrimp” but it’s actually Very Bad that I spend 8 hours each day leaning over a laptop and another hour or two on the sofa watching TV or movies before bed. Add in some doomscrolling and deadline stress while the extraordinary machine runs on pub food and pints of beer with interrupted sleep…

I don’t think there’s any amount of professional success that would let me buy a solution to offset the damage I’m doing to my body every day.

So we’re making some changes. More steps. More sober days. More yoga. More weights. More time at the standing desk.

More art. More hours outside. And more plant diversity in weekly meal planning. The goal is 30 unique and whole plant-based foods per week. I already get plenty of protein and rich, healthy fats. My old guts need more boring things like fiber and antioxidants!

Beyond these two priorities the other big objectives are to:

#3 Treat work like play and #4 Improve sustainability and ergonomics at home.

Last year we did a ton of home improvement projects and purchased some furnishings.

In that process, I learned that, yes, a fresh coat of paint lifts my mood every morning but it’s the functional improvements that had the highest return on investment.

Out of everything we upgraded, the change that made me the happiest was swapping out our pedestal sink for a unit with a cabinet—something I didn’t even know I wanted! The designer we worked with suggested this and it made a world of difference.

Building on what I learned, I’m not buying any new things this year unless they help me improve the ergonomics at home. Better accessibility, better storage, less clutter and more comfort.

Before the new year, I updated my vision boards and picked a theme for the year.

I wrote down:

Let your heart break open to new opportunities.

Open heart. Open spaces. Open to new ideas. Open to trying new things.

Intentional vulnerability. Not just transparency but expansiveness.

This is the hope I’m attaching to the calendar.

Right now, with my dog’s head in my lap and the lightning flashing outside, it’s hard to imagine being open to anything. It feels like I’m being crushed into the top layer of the mattress by the weight of the weather and the rain.

I should be more curious about what this day has to offer. The coffee cup on my nightstand is empty. Perhaps I will get up and pursue a slice of toast.