* Michelle Thoughts, challenges, Intentional Living

Turning 35: Michelle’s Birthday Bucket List

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I promised myself that I wouldn’t actually be old until age 75. But turning 35 means I’ve left my “early thirties” behind, which makes me feel that I no longer fit in the “young adult” category. I’m doing my best to accept this shift in identity without dragging my feet.

I confess that one of my biggest fears about aging is that life will somehow go downhill. I realize that the physical obstacles will increase – I’ve had chronic pain and headaches since my mid-twenties, so I don’t have much hope of anything getting better in that regard. But my real concern doesn’t involve bodily functions.

I remember as a Continue reading “Turning 35: Michelle’s Birthday Bucket List” →

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A Legacy of Love

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It’s strange that just three months ago we said good bye to my father.

Some days it feels like he has been gone for a while. Other days like today, it feels as if he was just here. He was just here.

When people ask me how I’m doing regarding my Dad I’m not sure what to say. I appreciate the kind sentiments but it’s hard to explain what I’m feeling. How do I explain to people that I feel sad, angry, thankful, longing, terrible, at peace, all at the same time? Dad’s passing is easily the hardest thing I’ve ever been through and I still don’t feel like I’ve gotten to process or share all that I want to from that experience.

I’ve been especially Continue reading “A Legacy of Love” →

* Jedd Thoughts, * Life Updates, Intentional Living

What Matters Most

simplyintentional

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?” →

Intentional Living, Things We Love

You’re Invited to the World Domination Summit

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Michelle and I want to personally invite you…

To one of the most incredible and extraordinary events called the: World Domination Summit (a.k.a. WDS). 

Mark your calendars and save the dates: July 11th – July 17th, 2017

Each year 1000+ amazing and wonderful individuals make the journey to Portland Oregon to think and respond to this central question, “how can we live remarkable lives in a conventional world”.

For the last three years, Michelle and I have Continue reading “You’re Invited to the World Domination Summit” →

* 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…” →

* Michelle Thoughts, Intentional Living

When You’re Not Saving Money at That Sale

mcmeeshi

Sale prices. Who doesn’t like to save money and get big shopping discounts? You walk into your favorite store and see a bright sign above some nice T-shirts: “45% off today only!” You may think to yourself: “That sounds like a good deal; I don’t want to miss out.” But I wouldn’t be so sure.

Unfortunately, sometimes those sale prices aren’t actually saving us money.

Intentional Spending

Being aware of how we spend our money is a big part of intentional living. Continue reading “When You’re Not Saving Money at That Sale” →

* 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. 

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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, Intentional Living

The Thief of Joy: Comparison

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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 towards becoming.  

This one’s for you. Who? You.

It’s also for me. I’m writing this post for myself. I’m hoping that when I’m 66 and maybe 99, I’ll somehow come back to this post and remember the greatest lesson I’ve learned so far this past year: Continue reading “The Thief of Joy: Comparison” →

* Jedd Thoughts, * Life Updates, Intentional Living

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

simplyintentional

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” →