I’m Gonna Take It Easy in 2017

Spending time on quality, not quantity

3 min readDec 31, 2016

I was on a family getaway last year (and if you know my family, getting away is a contradiction in terms when we’re together); and remember a short conversation I had with my yoga-surfing-bond-trading-glass-ceiling-breaking cousin from T Dot. I was trying to persuade her to take up some hobby or the other which she clearly had aptitude for and which she politely but firmly declined to get interested in. She said:

I have plenty of things in my life that I’m not doing well enough without adding another to the list

(or words more or less to that effect, whatever, you get the gist right?)

I’ve recalled that conversation often times over the last eighteen months, now and again in a reflective period like now, 2330 on New Year’s Eve, but more often than not as I launched into my latest learn to build a website, FBA, python for beginners, pythons for data, python for entrepreneurs, self publishing course, or book, or article or conversation. I recalled and then swiftly dismissed it.

I wish I hadn’t, I’d probably have started fewer courses but finished more.

I think I bought into the ‘always on’ mentality too much, the hustler persona or the founder archetype. Yes, some people can (and do) get up at 4 and accomplish great things before I wipe the blur out of my eyes, but most of us wake at a reasonable hour and still accomplish great things.

I’ve tried the early rise, it’s not for me (though my kids did use to laugh at me as they caught me making porridge whilst gyrating to some tune as they came down for brekkie in the morning). I do love running, but I’m not going to beat myself up for not making it out as often as I would like to, I’d rather enjoy the escape than dread it. If you’ve read any of my previous posts on Medium, you’ll also know that I love learning new things but also lose interest when things get monotonous. As a result I don’t learn as much as I probably could if I weren’t trying to target so many different areas.

But more than anything I’m going to concentrate on simply doing fewer things. Find deeper connection with them and, hopefully, in doing so, improve exponentially.

I know that writing here on Medium has rekindled the foreshadow of passion for the written word, I know that I am enamoured of beautiful things and that photography allows me to explore this part of my makeup. I know that looking at innovative solutions to help business find their potential gets my heart (and mind) pumping and that spending time with my two beautiful, intelligent (millennial) daughters and sassy, loving, luscious (Italian) wife is something I’ll never do enough or do well enough.

I’m sure a couple of other things will catch my eye and distract me now and again, but even then, I’ll keep bringing myself back to this moment, and hopefully the distraction will pass.

So here’s to taking it a little easier, doing less, less often, but living a life filled with quality and the abundance that it brings.

About me: Citizen of the World. I love writing, photography, travelling, reading, learning and growing. Medium is another journey in my life, let’s see what sights we may see.