How I Am Learning To Enjoy The Life I Created

I’ve been taking my schedule a little less seriously lately.

Not ignoring it.

I still plan my week, protect my work time, and try to do what I said I was going to do.

But I’ve stopped acting as though every interruption is a problem that needs to be corrected.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve laughed more with my wife.

And she noticed a new lightness in my spirit.

I’ve had more moments where I stopped what I was doing and played with my son instead of thinking about what I should be getting done.

And honestly, those have been some of the best parts of my days.

I can get so focused on the plan that I stop seeing what is happening around me.

I’m physically there, but part of me is still looking at the clock or mentally reorganizing everything I haven’t finished.

A schedule helps me create the life I want, but it can’t become more important than the life itself.

My family is not interrupting the plan.

The laughter, the conversations that run longer than expected, my son wanting to play games and Legos when I had something else in mind.

Those things are part of what I chose.

I still believe in discipline...

And I do feel better when my days have structure and I am keeping the promises I made to myself.

I’m just realizing that I don’t need to hold the structure so tightly that there is no room left for joy.

Sometimes the moment I didn’t schedule is the moment I needed.

I keep reminding myself this is the life I am working for, but it is also the life I am already living.

I should probably enjoy it.

-JP

What's Going On at Pouncil & Company

This is also part of what I want to create during the men’s retreat I’m hosting in Roatán over Labor Day weekend.

Most of us rarely step completely outside the machinery of our lives.

Even when we take time off, we carry the schedule with us.

We check messages, think through unfinished work, anticipate the next responsibility, and quietly measure whether we are using the time well.

We may change locations without actually creating any space.

This retreat is an opportunity for a small group of three to five men to do something different.

We’ll spend the weekend in one of the most beautiful places in the Caribbean, combining adventure, honest conversation, reflection, good food, and enough unscheduled room to notice what is difficult to see while constantly managing everyday life.

This is not about escaping responsibility...

Or returning home with a completely new personality and a twelve-step plan...

It is about creating enough distance from the usual noise to ask better questions:

What am I carrying because it truly matters?

What am I carrying only because I have become accustomed to the weight?

What parts of my life have I been too busy improving to enjoy?

And what might become clear if I stopped treating every moment like a problem to solve?

The retreat will take place in Roatán, Honduras, over Labor Day weekend. It is designed for men carrying significant responsibility in business, family, leadership, or a season of transition who could benefit from stepping outside their normal environment.

Limited to five spaces. If this sounds like the kind of space you need or someone immediately came to mind as you read this, reply to this email and let’s have a conversation.

Originally sent through Kit: View the original letter