Why we are doing this
We desire to live with intent.
Life can be wonderful. It is absolutely short. We want to make it count.
This site gives a broad perspective on our lives, and constructs a bridge linking past successes to, as Walt would say, “a great, big, beautiful tomorrow.”
Far too often individuals struggle through the day-to-day world without analyzing their actions, or relating these actions to any fundamental values or ways they intend to live. Such a lack of focus destroys productivity, often leads to dissatisfaction with one’s position in life, and places one at risk of being an unwise steward of the resources entrusted to them.
Anyone who acts without paying attention to what he is doing is wasting his life. I'd go so far as to say life is denied by lack of attention, whether it be to cleaning windows or trying to write a masterpiece. Nadia Boulanger
Attention is a moral act. Attention changes the world. If you attend to it in a certain way you see certain things. If you attend to it in another way you see quite different things. Attention helps to bring into existence the experiential world, which is the only world that we can ever know. Iain McGilchrist
This is how we pay attention.
How we are doing this
[1] Get wisdom → [2] articulate values → [3] apply values → [4] create feedback loops → [5] refine and repeat.
This site is a series of essays, linked below, that describe our attempts to live this out.
John was recently interviewed about this process here: Seeking Truth.
[1] Getting wisdom
Pursuing wisdomInternalizing wisdom[2] Our values
Family valuesHow we handle goalsWhat is values-based living?How did we elicit our values?[3] Applying our values
[3.1] Allocating time
Prioritizing how we use timeImproving how we operateCommunicating effectivelyKeeping our marriage vowsRaising wonderful childrenEating and drinking wellDressing like we mean itTraveling well[3.2] Allocating treasure
Financial defense and offenseI can have a little and you can have a lotAnother adventureEnough[3.3] Allocating talents
Business business business[4] Feedback loops
Feedback loops help us up our game. Here’s how we do it:
Learning in publicFamily historiesBest ofWhat inspired us
This site was inspired by Steve Candeto’s (1956 – 1996) annual family reports, of which record we have 1982, 1983, 1985, and 1993 editions. The “Why we are doing this” and “How we are doing this” sections of this site were partially adapted from Steve’s 1993 report.