Category: * Life Updates

* Life Updates, * Michelle Thoughts, challenges, Intentional Living

Will 2018 Be Your Year of Simple?

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Seven years ago we made a life-changing decision to serve in the Peace Corps. We put in our notices at work, ended the lease on our apartment, and sold all of our furniture. We kept our winter clothes and yearbooks in storage with family and headed off to volunteer in Jamaica with the required maximum of two suitcases each.

Living with less was completely liberating. Not only did we have less stuff to keep track of, our weekly schedules in that rural Jamaican community were simplified, too. When we came home from work, we had time to read, journal, practice new recipes… In Jamaica, it was nearly impossible to get more than two real tasks done per day, so we became accustomed to a slower pace of life.

That simpler life was so much less stressful – it was something we vowed to keep in our lives moving forward. And we’re passionate about helping others do the same. Continue reading “Will 2018 Be Your Year of Simple?” →

* Jedd Thoughts, * Life Updates, Intentional Living

What Matters Most

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Every year I write a birthday post reflecting on something I’ve learned in the past year about myself (and thoughts about getting older). It’s a great way to see where I’ve been, who I am today, and hopefully reflects the person I am working on becoming.  

I want to ask you a question: what core values drive the major decisions you make for your life?

In other words, what are the things you value the most? Do you know? Have you ever asked yourself this question? If you do know what matters the most to you, do you live your life in such a way that reflects these values?

This is the foundation to Continue reading “What Matters Most” →

* Jedd Thoughts, * Life Updates, challenges, Intentional Living

2016 Annual Review Part 1: How Well Did The Year of Productivity Go?

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For the last three years, Michelle and I have done a practice called an Annual Review. It’s an opportunity to intentionally reflect on the past year and think of the things that went well, things that didn’t go so well, and to take all that information and start planning for the upcoming year and beyond. We highly recommend this activity as an individual, as a couple, and even as a family. Don’t know how to start one? Check out this awesome free workbook from our friends at Live Your Legend and example posts from the Art of Non-Conformity. 

At the beginning of this year I made a pronouncement to make this the “year of productivity”. I even wrote a post explaining my plan here.

I was going to:

  • Learn Spanish (mind)
  • Get ripped and in-shape (body)
  • Grow in my faith (spirit)

How did I do? Well… Continue reading “2016 Annual Review Part 1: How Well Did The Year of Productivity Go?” →

* Jedd Thoughts, * Life Updates, Intentional Living

To the First Cohort of the Wayfinding Academy…

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There’s a good chance that when you read this post, 15 new students will have just finished their very first class at the Wayfinding Academy. It’s an incredible story of how a former college professor (and great friend of ours) put together a team to create a college from scratch that combats many of the current issues in higher education.

The main focus of the Wayfinding Academy is to help students discover and better understand who they are (based on their passions, skills, and interests), how they can serve our world, and determine what next steps they’ll need to live the life they want for themselves — not what others are saying they should do. Continue reading “To the First Cohort of the Wayfinding Academy…” →

* Jedd Thoughts, * Life Updates, challenges, Intentional Living

Whole 30 Challenge Review

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Every year Michelle and I have tried to do some sort of food fast, and this year we decided to try the Whole 30 challenge. You can read about why we decided to do this challenge here. 

doing-the-w30-fb-cover-660x244

We really like this practice of doing challenges as it helps us learn how to be more intentional, disciplined, and most importantly, become more aware of our own behaviors that we typically wouldn’t think much about. For this specific challenge we are focusing on what we eat.

Whole Foods for 30 Whole Days

We did it. Mission accomplished.

For 30 days, we intentionally avoided eating sugar, dairy, beans, rice, grains, gluten and other food that could potentially cause inflammation. We followed all of the Whole 30 rules. By doing so, we turned down offers of pizza and dessert, as well as many of our other favorite things to eat. Overall, it wasn’t that bad.

In fact…we both learned a lot*. Continue reading “Whole 30 Challenge Review” →

* Jedd Thoughts, * Life Updates, Intentional Living

Whole 30: A Challenge to Eat Whole Foods For 30 Days – Join Us

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Every year Michelle and I have tried to do some sort of fast (you can read about our last one here). We really like this practice as it helps us learn how to be more intentional, disciplined, and most importantly, become more aware of our own behaviors that we typically wouldn’t think much about. For this specific challenge we are focusing on what we eat.

doing-the-w30-fb-cover-660x244

Continue reading “Whole 30: A Challenge to Eat Whole Foods For 30 Days – Join Us” →

* Jedd Thoughts, * Life Updates, Intentional Living

The Year of Productivity – How to Do Something New With Smart Goals, Accountability, Tracking, and Motivation

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Hola from Ecuador! That’s where Michelle and I have intentionally stationed ourselves for the months of January and February. Why? More on that in a future post because today on my to do list is to finish this post, ironically, all about productivity.

If you’ve made pronouncements in your life to make a change, learn something new, or be more productive and you’ve succeeded, then this post isn’t for you. This post is for those Continue reading “The Year of Productivity – How to Do Something New With Smart Goals, Accountability, Tracking, and Motivation” →

* Jedd Thoughts, * Life Updates, Intentional Living

2015 Annual Review

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For the last couple of years, at the end of the year, we’ve been doing a practice called the Annual Review inspired by our friend Chris Guillebeau of the Art of Non-Conformity. In it’s simplest form, it’s an exercise to take some intentional time out of your life to reflect on your previous year and to look ahead to the coming year. Here are the main questions from Chris’ original post about annual reviews:

What went well this year?

What did not go well this year?

At the end of 2014 we had Continue reading “2015 Annual Review” →

* Jedd Thoughts, * Life Updates

Thankful (a year in pics)

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Thanksgiving has become my favorite holiday.

Christmas and New Years will always have a special place in my heart, but in light of the chaos and uncertainty in our world – and maybe because I’m getting older (and shockingly more mature), I’m realizing the fragility of life and the importance of living with gratitude. Continue reading “Thankful (a year in pics)” →

* Jedd Thoughts, * Life Updates, Intentional Living

How to Do Something You Said You’ve Always Wanted to? Start Here.

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(taking a short break during our walks through London)

We’re back. It’s been about four months since our last post here, mainly because so many things were going on. In the past months we’ve helped put on two awesome events (World Domination Summit and Pioneer Nation), successfully raised money for a new college we are helping to launch in Portland called the Wayfinding Academy, went to Europe for a family wedding (along with some sight seeing and a special bike tour), and did a road trip through California for a month to see family, friends, and celebrate another family wedding (Michelle’s brother). In between, we’ve been doing some house/pet sitting. Needless to say a lot has been going on but we’re still trying our best to make intentional choices to live life the we want (and still trying to figure out what that looks like).  Hope you enjoy the latest thoughts:  Continue reading “How to Do Something You Said You’ve Always Wanted to? Start Here.” →