I started 2025 with high hopes of grand accomplishments. I had the focus words "Focus, Complete, Elevate," and goals to complete throughout the year. I was going to follow cycles ala 37 Signals. But no sooner did I pen those words than things changed. I was asked to write a conference application for a large conference of my peers, which I started on 8 January. More importantly, in February I was given a chance to retire early from my federal service. With a small break in the mid-2000s, I've served the US government in one fashion or another since I was 20. I thought I had a few years to go when voluntary early retirement was offered. It was part of the infamous "fork in the road" email. As Yogi Berra said, "if you find a fork in the road, take it." So I did. From 19 February to today, three months, I've been in aggressive transition. We moved the family from Virginia to North Carolina in April. We closed on selling our house just recently. I had my retirement ceremony. My "real job" is no longer a distraction. This is the first Monday after all of that. I've started the process of incorporating Merovex Press in North Carolina. I'm laying the foundation to make this blog application a shared application with other writers and authors. And I'm conspiring to returning to writing as soon as I finish the conference application and taking this application wide. Thank you for continuing on the journey with me.

I've never been a fan of New Year's resolutions. Todoist once claimed that most resolutions fail by 3 January. I often quip that I set my resolutions in October to align with the Fiscal Year, my birth month and hasten failure. Why wait for the dark days of winter to fail when you can do it in early fall? This year, 2025, feels different to me. The twenties have been a rocky period, but at least for me I think 2025 will be a good year. I'll embrace this by grabbing a nudge word and rolling with it. What is a nudge word? It's a variant of the "One Word" or "Word of the Year" exercise is a goal-setting and personal development approach that gained popularity as an alternative to traditional New Year's resolutions. The evolution from one-word to three-word themes reflects the recognition that some concepts need more nuance while still maintaining simplicity. I've used this approach a few times with a bit of hit/miss in the outcome. For 2025, I'm going to try "Focus, Complete, Elevate" as my nudge words. Focus on what matters; Complete what I start; Elevate mind, body and spirit. I will use a 6/2 cycle method to set short-term milestones rather than attempt to set a year-long goal (per se). And at each cycle milestone, I will blog my progress. Focus, Complete, Elevate forms a strategic framework for my personal transformation in 2025. • Focus directly addresses the challenges of Variable Attention Stimulus Trait (VAST) / ADHD through deliberate improvement of executive function skills, enabling better attention management and task prioritization.  • Complete brings structure to project execution through a rhythmic 6/2 cycle -...