This summer has served as a time of transition and change for me personally as I strive to be a better husband, daddy, friend, and colleague to those around me. I am not sure if all of this was sparked due to my boy going through his fourth open heart surgery with better than expected results during surgery and recovery, the fact that 40 is quickly approaching, a general realization that I need to get myself in gear and back on track, or a special combination of all three. Whatever the exact formula, reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey at the beginning of the summer helped to light the fire and supported me in making some huge changes this summer both personally and professionally.

In particular, this quote from Covey’s book encouraged me to set reasonable and attainable goals toward a dynamic summer of change: “Make small commitments and keep them. Be a light, not a judge. Be a model, not a critic. Be part of the solution, not part of the problem” (pg. 100).

My theme for the summer was to keep in REAL as I set four goals to help me get back on track and moving forward. These four goals would often overlap and provided a healthy and necessary balance of important things in my life. As I continue to work towards the goals, I am reminded daily of keeping it real in my life.

R – Refocus: This first goal had me take a step back, look at all of those things in my life that are of great importance, and to refocus on those core values and attitudes that guide me as a person. As I strive to be and want to be remembered as a helpful, kind, caring, supportive, encouraging, and trusting man it was important for me to make daily commitments where these characteristics would shine through in my interactions with others. I do believe that with this mindset I was able to think more clearly through difficult conversations and uncomfortable moments this summer as well as to open myself up to be more attentive and a better listener during various conversations.

E – Exercise: This goal took on the overall idea of being healthy in mind, body, and spirit. The most obvious successes came in this area for me as I was able to set and accomplish a series of goals and results. Through a disciplined summer of consistent exercise and healthy eating I was able to see results fairly quickly that resulted in the desire and drive to continue. Although not always easy, this goal helped me to stay on track and to realize that habits can be changed for the better.

A – Action: Closely aligned and overarching the other three goals, this goal was about daily and intentional actions towards setting and keeping the various commitments. Each morning I would make it a point to visualize my various goals of exercise, healthy eating, reading of professional literature, and my overall attitude towards myself and others. I would make a daily plan and really reflect on how I was able (or not able in some cases) to follow through with the different commitments. There were certainly set backs and difficult days, however, by the end of the summer I was able to have a better grasp and understanding of my own personal drive and mindset toward making positive changes in my life. Now that I am back in China and getting ready to dive back into daily routines, I have a couple more goals (centered around service and spirituality) to add to my action list.

L – Literature: Another goal that was easy to measure was reading literature to help me move forward both professionally and personally. My summer reads, including books and various articles, provided the desire and commitment to make positive changes in my personal life as well as to increase my professional knowledge and capacity.

I truly hope that the changes that have taken place for me personally over the course of the last two months will serve as a starting point for the type of person that I strive to be for the rest of my life!