My 2017: Refinement

2016 was a big year.  There wasn’t one specific thing that stands out, but a lot of little things.  We celebrated our first year in our new house and our second wedding anniversary, we both had good years at work, #FrankDawg continues to dominate, and the blog continues to see growth. As the year comes to a close, I can’t help but reflect.  Sure, I have a lot going on, but I don’t think that will change.  What I have noticed is that I’ve gotten a little lazy, and I’ve got too much stuff.  With so many moving swim lanes in my life, I’m going to focus on refininment in 2017.  What started this?  Well, it was a post I did on jeans.  I usually go through the blog to look at it from a reader’s perspective, and when I came across a post talking about how many unworn pairs of jeans I had accumulated, it gave me pause.

Why do I have so many pairs?  What benefit does it bring our life here at the Fort?  It tells me a couple things: first, don’t buy things just because they are on sale, and second, I’ve got way too much “stuff.”  There’s a complication that comes with over-abundance, inefficiency.  It’s a want vs. need mentality: of course you want that new pair of jeans, but you don’t need them.  I don’t want a complicated life.  I want a simple(er) life.  I want a more refined life.

I’ve come up with three specific areas I’d like to apply some refinement, along with hypotheses on the impact these changes will make.  Here we go:

Refine the wardrobe.  I have to do a better job of maintaining the personal value of my closet’s real estate.  There is only so much space, and the occupants must sustain a minimum level of importance.  I have some really nice stuff, but I also have a ton of fillers that ultimately dilute my wardrobe’s overall composition.  This causes unneeded stress when getting dressed in the morning, or before a night out.  Fewer, better, more refined choices will allow me a more satisfying experience, and quite frankly make the experience easier.  I’d rather have less, GREAT shirts in lieu of a bunch of mish-mash.  Not only that, but I want to focus on wearing the great stuff more often.  That’s why they are there, and that’s what they were built to do.  My hypothesis: less is more when it comes to a wardrobe.

Better mornings and better evenings.  I’ve gotten into a bad habit of lazy mornings and even lazier nights.  It’s as if I take a long time in the morning to warm up, and pack it in too early at night.  I want to start exercising early in the morning to give the day a kick start.  I want do a better job of utilizing evening hours for more productive endeavors, like (more) reading/writing, meal prep, and focusing on the honey-do list.  It’s amazing what you can get done in an hour (or two!).  My hypothesis: Work at dawn and dusk will better complete the day.

Be more sporty.  I grew up as an athlete, playing just about every sport I had time for.  What’s changed is that I don’t play team sports anymore, instead electing to be a spectator.  I play golf as much as possible, and have been getting into fly fishing, and have a quail hunt lined up for January.  Beyond the regular weekend rounds or casts, I want to take a couple vacations that including bringing golf clubs and fly rods. My hypothesis: By taking a proactive, vested interest in participating in a sporting life, I believe I will become a more well-rounded individual.

What’s most important?  Well, Mrs. RCS is 100% on board, so that helps.  It would be next to impossible to make these sorts of changes without her.  I’ll give updates throughout the year, but for now, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Images: Google Image search

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7 Comments

  1. Charlie
    12/31/2016 / 11:24 AM

    Send some stuff my way!

  2. AHA
    12/31/2016 / 12:46 PM

    I couldn’t agree more, especially when it comes to a need to pare down my wardrobe.

    I recently got married and moved into my husband’s house with only my clothing “essentials”, leaving everything I don’t love at my old house. I decided to start eBay-ing all the things I don’t wear to save for the home improvement projects I want to complete in 2017.

    Cheers!

  3. Livingston Mimms
    12/31/2016 / 1:34 PM

    Great stuff! Bring on 2017! Let’s kick ass!

  4. Landy
    01/01/2017 / 11:39 AM

    Didn’t spend nearly enough time on the water with a fly rod in 16′. Not using foul weather or a slow bite as excuses to stay home this year

  5. Chris
    01/01/2017 / 1:50 PM

    As a long time reader I’ve always thought it would be interesting to see a post on your closet. How you manage to store and choose on daily basis the clothes you wear. I will say it is hard these days to “refine” the wardrobe with brands always coming out with great products every week it seems. And the buy one/sell one theory does not work for me because sometimes I always seem to get that sellers remorse. Who knows I may need that lime green polka dot linen shirt one day.

  6. Andy
    01/02/2017 / 2:44 PM

    If you haven’t already, check out a recent documentary called Minimalism. It’s right on point with your plan and has motivated me to simplify my life too. Love people, use things…not the other way around. Good luck partner!

  7. Brad
    01/03/2017 / 9:36 AM

    I listened to an interview with Yvon Chouinard of Patagonia this morning about fly fishing at his place in Jackson Hole. He spoke of his desire to remove the “stuff” from his life. He fishes with ONE fly now and has caught more fish than ever. Too much “stuff” is a distraction.

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