The Year of the Expeditioner
This is my ‘/word page’ - a place to document my intent for the next chapter of the life of timall.red
It’s all part of the Choose One Word ‘Ritual of Becoming’ from Dr Jason Fox and The Cleverness.
Backstory
The Year of the Alchemist extended from early 2021 until June 2022. It continued to serve a purpose for me, as something to anchor me while putting the final touches on my thesis. I have benefited from the Year of the Alchemist over the last year as I was challenged to take and see the broader impacts of my actions, embrace the present (sometimes successfully), and live in the knowledge of our Personal Legends and the contribution we make to each other’s story.
2022 continues my ritual of Choosing One Word as an anchor/reference point for my year as I step into a new chapter my career and life, building on the previous years of the Alchemist (2021), Zen Archer (2020), Phoenix (2019) Rogue Scholar (2017) and Warrior (2016).
The Year of the Expeditioner.
The Expeditioner’s goal is to live an inspiring and fulfilling life. She is authentic, curious, and independent.
The Expeditioner is on a journey, seeking new experiences and pushing beyond his previously known boundaries. The Expeditioner finds enjoyment in unexpected discoveries.
The Expeditioner is a leader, navigating and forging a unique path forward while focusing on self-discovery and understanding of their experiences and environment.
Purported ad posted by Sir Ernest Shackleton recruiting expeditioners to the South Pole (Source)
Principles
1. Embrace Discomfort.
We live in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world. The Expeditioner knows this but leans in and embraces the discomfort that they face while navigating the VUCA world around them.
“Uncertainty is the only certainty there is and knowing how to live with insecurity is the only security.”
~ John Allen Paulos
The Expeditioner faces uncertainty with openness. He practices finding comfort in uncertainty, which allows him to remain open to life’s lessons and find enlightenment through wholehearted, open-minded interaction with our world.
2. Prepare for all Situations.
The Expeditioner is a prepper. Embracing uncertainty challenges her to consider various future states and ‘What If’ scenarios. The Expeditioner anticipates the possible future events and practices their response both.
“Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.”
~ Marcus Aurelius
The Expeditioner’s focus on preparation extends to their gear, ensuring he has the best equipment to respond effectively to any situation. The Expedititioner’s gear must be practical and adaptable to suit a range of purposes.
3. The Map is not the Territory.
The Expeditioner knows that a map is necessarily useful, however flawed. A map is not reality, they are imperfect reduction of what they represent. A map is a snapshot of a point in time, representing something that may no longer exist.
“A map is not the territory it represents, but, if correct, it has a similar structure to the territory, which accounts for its usefulness.”
~ Alfred Korzybski
The Expeditioner plans his journey with maps and charts, but knows as soon as his expedition begins, the terrain is reality. His maps are covered in scrawls and handwritten mark-ups - detailing waypoints, obstacles and discoveries not reflected in the representations depicted by the mapmaker.
Patterns
The following patterns and behaviours for the Year of the Expeditioner will form part of my daily rhythms over the course of this year.
Embrace the Suck - I will look for opportunities to practice getting comfortable with my discomfort - and working towards confronting those things that make me uncomfortable and changing it.
Observation - I will embrace curiosity and wonder of the physical world through observation. I will practice gratitude and deep listening techniques into my day to ensure I’m being present with and aware of those and what is around me.
Fieldnotes - I will incorporate a practice of maintaining fieldnotes - qualitative notes of my observations and experiences to aid in my understanding of the phenomena in which I am both an observer and an actor.
Projects
Over the course of this year, I intend to form a diverse group of high performing/ambitious/focused individuals to be a peer accountability network. I’m still in the draft thinking of what this will look like, however anticipate that it will start to take shape around the middle of the year.
How you can help
You may see me sporting a fancy pin - a way for me to symbolise the Expeditioner. So ask me how I'm going to embed the Expeditioner into my daily rhythms. Better yet, share with me your Word and we can journey on this together!
Head over to the Choose One Word ‘Ritual of Becoming’ program and sign up today.