So, that's 1% of 2026
It's 4:00 PM in the Mountain Time Zone where I reside, which means it's just over 3.65 days into 2026, or 1% of the year in my part of the world.
I hope each of us has taken a first step in our individual, intended direction for the year. The size or speed of that step does not matter, just that it was taken.
On my end, I picked out a few books to re/read to align with my intentions. I'm limiting myself to five titles, because this is the opposite of that ideal found in reading 50 books a year. I want to sit with specific ideas to really grasp the content, because my intuition tells me they'll be my constant guides for what I want to do and who I want to become this year. They are:
- The Art of War by Sun Tzu
- The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi
- Dokkōdō by Miyamoto Musashi
- The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell
- The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
I spent yesterday decluttering my bedroom, and allocated space on a shelf for these works. They have a prominent presence in space because I want them to have a presence in my mind and living, too.
The central theme is cultivating discernment (i.e., the events of life and how to respond to them) and discipline (i.e., the ability to maintain a calm mind and to self-direct my attention). War is a metaphor for the struggles of living (four of the five pertain to it), whereas heroism means turning those struggles into processes of transformation (i.e., the Campbellian Hero's Journey).
While I'll certainly read other material this year, the five listed constitute my core curriculum in 2026. I'm eager to put their theories into practice.