Not surprisingly, I spent most of my time on the draft model thinking about the “blue” stream. As I said earlier, I had hoped for more comments about the model to get me thinking, refining, riffing off other people’s ideas, but that didn’t happen much. I did benefit a lot from one friend’s comments in particular and it helped me crystallize what the blue stream means to me, so thanks AG!

It’s probably more granular than I need it to be, but I would see it having six streams that probably collapse into three:

• A learning stream that combines basic intellectual processes with a sense of curiosity, expanding out through exploration and knowledge accumulation, and culminating in applied, directed learning with a strong analytical component (since we’re in blue, it might be more “creative” if it was in yellow, I suppose);
• A communications stream that is basic communication, self-expression in a variety of forms, and more applied comms skills like languages…I suspect there is a more “applied” comms category that would encapsulate some of the yellow forms of communication too (singing, art, crafts, dance, etc.) but for me it is probably mostly language at the top level (my blog would be the self-expression form, I suppose); and,
• A self-control stream that combines self-possession / relaxation / stability to give a strong core base, some self-esteem + calming techniques + routine in one’s life, and finally culminating in self-confidence, advanced centreing, and ultimately increased “order” to one’s life. I suspect a lot of people would put the relax / de-stress / peace / calm elements in “green” for earthiness, yellow for inner peace, or red for directing one’s energy, but for me it is primarily about ordering the mind, and hence blue.

Blue is my go-to energy, the one that both gives me energy and energizes me as I’m using it. The perpetual battery for introverted analytical-types. That’s me. And the more I have moved to the “centre” to balance blue, red, yellow and green, the more dissonance there has been with my true self. I’m a blue. I’ve always been a blue. It’s my core, my strength, my claim to fame and my passion. It’s time I embraced my full blue self.

While Kermit may sing about it not being easy being green, being blue for me is like falling off a couch. Point out a situation, and I’m already analyzing it, including why you pointed it out. I’m fast, I’m analytical and intuitive, and I’m damn good at it. Of course, being blue blinds you to some insights from green/red/yellow approaches, but focusing on them has also diminished the quality and productivity of my blue side. In terms of bases, my blue is rock-solid for the learning and communications streams, definitely in Tier Three most of the time. However, the self-control stream has taken some hits in recent years. Probably because it is the least interesting of the three streams, the most mechanized, the most drudgery-filled form of work. Lists, tracking, review, more lists. B-O-R-I-N-G! 🙂

This means for every activity I do in the self-control stream, I will reward myself with activities in the other two. Plus, overall, I want to have at least have one blue for each of the other colour’s priorities i.e. I have three priorities for each of the other three for a total of nine, meaning I have room for nine blue priorities, with no more than three in self-control and six in the other two streams.

I am keeping my astronomy interest going. I didn’t get as far as I would have liked last year, but I did manage to get the tracking mostly fixed. This year, my focus is expanding my skills for the moon, using filters, and taking some astrophotos (moon, planets and globular clusters). Basically, taking my skills from basic to medium in the applied learning stream.

I am also going to complete two online courses this year — the one I am already doing for Understanding Video Games, and I have some ideas how to better access the content for that in my schedule, and then on to the Psychology course. I haven’t been prioritizing it the way I should, but I have hope this will be a nice addition to the applied learning stream.

I have installed Kindle Unlimited on my tablet, and I have set myself an ambitious reading challenge for the year. 26 authors, 26 books or groups of books. I am not sure how I will finish them all this year, but I’ll see what I can accomplish.

For the communications stream, I am going to write a LOT. Some blog, some for books (HR Guide plus additional volumes). While a lot of this looks like “yellow” creativity, there is also a LOT of blue energy involved in researching, organizing, analyzing, developing a structured framework to explain my point of view.

Similarly, while it may look like creativity in yellow, my photography skills need more attention this year. I really want to get the basics down for certain types of landscape photography, including for water. I took some nice shots this past year, and I quite like them, but only a handful would make my portfolio of anything resembling art.

I’m going to count another aspect of communications and writing separately from the first one, and that is my reviews of TV episodes and books. I like the format, and process, that I have now for each, and I’m going to keep adding them to my blog. They’re a bit different from the other writing though, hence why I am counting it separately.

For the self-control stream, some of it already addressed on the physical side (red) with yoga and stretching. As such, my three priorities here are a little tighter in focus on the mechanical aspects. First and foremost, I’ve switched over to a new organizer/app that I can run on multiple computers, tablets and phones, and it will always be live and synchronized. Will it keep me organized for calendars, tracking, and finances? Only time will tell, but I’m using part of it already more than I was, compliments of two new apps (Sunrise for a calendar and TickTick for the todo list). I need to redo my bucket list to be a much more practical, prudent list for example, and I think I’ll be able to include it in the app.

On the cyber front, my two big things for the coming year are going to be organizing my photo and music collections and setting up a good reliable backup system.

Last but not least, I’m going to set up my “honey-do” list finally. I’ve managed it in multiple forms, but it’s time I set it up clearly and unreservedly and set myself a goal of doing at least one thing off it a week. I’ve got a good start on the basic form of it, but I need to prioritize better.

So that’s all of the list, just need one more thing. My slogan. Something strong and provocative as it is my saving energy. How about: Live Blue or Die! 🙂