The first episode of the year always comes with the expectation of setting goals for the upcoming year, something that Andrew and I don’t really believe in, but there is still something useful about slowing down before the year picks up speed. This is not about resolutions or reinvention, and it is definitely not about pretending two architects figured everything out over a long weekend. What this should feel like instead is clearing the desk before getting back to work, taking a moment to notice what keeps resurfacing, what has shifted, and what probably deserves a different approach than it did before. The idea of having a plan shows up in today’s conversation less as a declaration and more as a way to move forward with intention rather than pure momentum. Some of this is personal, some of it is tied directly to work, and due to the nature of being an architect, some of it lives in the uncomfortable overlap between the two. None of it is framed as advice, and none of it comes with tidy answers. It is simply a conversation about how we are thinking heading into the year, before the calendar fills up and the noise takes over again. Welcome to Episode 192: Have a Plan
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I’m just going to say it – and probably not for the last time – that I do not care for New Year’s Resolutions because they typically just seem to be opportunities for failure, but I am a fan of self-reflection and attempting to take stock in where you are, what you are doing, and trying to find a place where you behavior is productive and ideally setting you up for success.
As such, Andrew and I are going to work through 4 sections we feel are important to process, because they have an impact on all aspects of our lives – and I feel like these four sections should resonate with everyone listening to today’s show because the topics are fairly universal. They are:
- Personal health
- Financial health
- Professional development, and
- Personal development
Those four areas tend to surface whether you invite them in or not, usually when one of them drifts out of balance and starts putting pressure on the rest. We didn’t sit down to solve any of them, and we’re not offering a system that promises results. This is simply an attempt to slow things down long enough to notice what keeps showing up and decide which of those signals deserves a closer look right now. For me, that conversation always starts with capacity, because everything else depends on it. If you don’t have the energy to show up, none of the other plans matter, which makes personal health the logical place to begin.
What we are really doing here is using our own situations and challenges as a way into these conversations. Not because they are special, but because they are familiar. The hope is that by talking through our experiences, it gives listeners either a nudge to take action themselves or at least a framework for thinking about where they might want to start. You don’t need to be in the same place we are for any of this to apply. Sometimes hearing how someone else is working through a problem is enough to move you off square one.
Personal Health jump to 4:23
Bob
Personal health is the most predictable place to start, which is probably why this should be part of everyone’s list of reflection and planning. You should expect it, possibly even roll your eyes a little, and depending on your age, you should be keeping score in their own head. Age plays a role, no doubt. The bigger shift came from realizing my daughter is about to graduate college, and questions about what comes next stop being abstract. Consistency beats ambition and starting in earnest, I can tell you that things look a lot different for me now than even a few years ago
Alcohol is a good example. I like drinking. I am very pleasant when I am drinking, which historically made it easy to justify. I have rules for when I drink – not sure that I have ever shared them on here before:
- I don’t drink by myself
- I don’t drink when I am having a bad day
- I don’t use alcohol to signal or recognize a moment
- I don’t drink out of boredom
This basically guarantees that I am in a good mood and surrounded by friends when I indulge and as a result, it is not a form of self-medication. That having been said, the amount of which is drink is still dropping even though I enjoy it.
I am interested in more intentional choices. Just as I said I was going to do on the “What to get an Architect for Christmas” list this year, I picked up a WHOOP because I wanted real feedback that would inform behavior. Stress, sleep, recovery, and movement are harder to ignore when the data keeps quietly raising an eyebrow. None of this is about optimization. It is about awareness and accountability without turning life into a spreadsheet – even though I do love all the data.
Movement has stayed intentionally simple. When things are going well, I walk a 5k most evenings after work. Running is not the point, and neither is chasing some abstract performance metric. The goal is to elevate my heart rate, undo at least part of a desk-bound day, and make sure my body still responds when I ask it to do something. Walking works because it is low friction and predictable, which means it actually happens. Over the last year, that consistency has led to a twenty-pound drop, with another ten to go. The target is 195 at six foot one, not because a chart told me so, but because it feels like a weight I can carry forward without negotiating with my knees, back, or energy levels. The quiet benefit is that the walk creates a buffer between work and home, a short stretch of time where projects stop rattling around and the day gets a chance to close before the next one starts.
Here is the part that might actually be useful. Health routines that survive busy seasons tend to be the least impressive ones. If a routine requires motivation, perfect conditions, or public accountability, it eventually collapses. Architects already live inside irregular schedules, deadlines, and stress cycles. Systems that fit into that reality matter more than intensity. Pick something boring. Pick something repeatable. Then protect it the same way you protect a standing meeting or a deadline, because future you is going to need the physical capacity you build now more than the version that just sounded good in January.
Andrew
This is an essential to always be on the list. As I get older, I think it will remain on the list forever. Unfortunately I was making good progress on this effort in Q3 of 2025, but then a lower back issue sidelined that effort and basically destroyed Q4. So now, Q1 of 2026 will be starting over at almost zero. While I was able to mostly maintain my corrected nutrition habits, the holidays did cause some disruption and so that area will get some refocus. The main goal is not back to increasing my levels of activity. This was heading in a strong direction until my “injury”. This is the one area that seems to become increasingly difficult with age for me. I know it is a combination of wear and weight, but I have to address one before I can manage to heal/repair the other. I think I am now feeling the impacts of my youth and the strain I put on my body then. I was very physically active for the first 30-35 years of my life (college sports, multiple marathons, etc.) then I stopped cold turkey (after knee surgery) and it seems that was actually worse for my overall health and body. I think. I hope to begin to move back towards a more active and viable condition for this portion of my life.
So for me the biggest issue in the area is always incremental growth. Based on my personal history, I have always been a person who goes 100%. As I am aging, this is not really a possibility for my physical body even though my mind wants it to be this way. So I have to work hard to overcome that inclination. I have to force myself to take things slow, start small and increase the efforts over time. I mean I really have to focus on that, because if not I will end up pushing too hard and overdoing it or worse injuring myself, which then makes the process start over weeks after I have recovered. So take small steps to improve. Have patience and the results will happen if the efforts can stay continuous.
Financial Health jump to 24:59
Bob
Financial health, for me, has shifted from background concern to something that requires deliberate attention. Selling my house and moving into a rented townhome was not about stepping away from ownership permanently, but about creating space. I wanted time for the market to settle after a peak, and I wanted time to think clearly about what I actually want next. In the meantime, a lot of financial noise disappeared. No property taxes. No maintenance surprises. No steady drip of obligations that quietly eat at flexibility. Do I miss it? Yes. I want to live in a place that reflects who I am and what matters to me. I worry about that only slightly less than I worry about making a bad financial decision that limits my options later.
The more meaningful shift has been how I engage with money rather than where it sits. I spent real effort finding a financial advisor, something I should have done decades earlier. The last year of self-education did not turn me into an expert, but it did change the quality of the conversations. I ask better questions now. I apply more pressure when answers feel vague. At my age, I do not have the margin to absorb a serious mistake and simply wait for the market to undo it. The account structure reflects that reality. Two accounts I actively manage to stay engaged, two that quietly do their job without demanding attention, and three managed by others to reduce decision fatigue. The target is double-digit growth across the board, but not at the expense of sleep.
One account sits apart from the rest. Before my daughter turned twenty-one, I set up an investment account in her name. That decision had very little to do with sentiment and everything to do with math. She has nearly seven doubling periods ahead of her before retirement age, and ignoring that felt irresponsible. If I have done this correctly, her future retirement security will be largely shaped by decisions made long before she ever had to think about them. That realization has reframed how I think about financial health. This is not just about accumulation. It is about positioning people you care about so outcomes are not left to chance.
Here is the part that might actually be useful. Financial maturity is not about embracing complexity. It is about deciding where complexity belongs. Learning enough to ask better questions is more valuable than trying to outsmart professionals. Lowering fixed expenses creates optionality. Removing major obligations changes the math faster than chasing marginal gains. Well-designed financial systems reduce mental noise rather than add to it. The goal is steady progress without panic, and growth that does not require you to watch the market like it owes you something.
Andrew
This one is not really an issue for me. I don’t mean that in the sense of I do not have to worry about my finances. It is in fact, quite the opposite. What I really mean is at this point in my life I cannot do much to modify my financial health. I am now due to my career change, settled into a more steady/fixed income. When I owned my own firm my finances fluctuated with the firm, but now the even paycheck makes some financial concerns easier and others more difficult. I can now at least count on the income, but I also cannot count on larger influxes every now and then. So it makes planning more important in certain ways.
At this point, the only way for me to “add” income would be by adding another side hustle. I do have a few irons in that fire, but I do not foresee them having a large impact, but who knows. I plan to get one or two of them out of the fire and into service this year. Otherwise, financial health for me is just living within my means and working to support my kids. One just finished college for now, and the other will be starting college in the fall. So I have financial obligations that are set and require most of my efforts. The only concerns that hang around are those unforeseen costs that I know exist, but don’t know when they will occur. Surprises with a car or house or child are there and will happen for sure, but its not possible to predict when. So those items are there and part of the planning to have a way to address them when they do finally occur. We all have these elements in our life that we know will happen; it is just a fact of life. Making sure that you can handle them when they do should be part of everyone’s plans.
So as I take a stock of my current situation, evaluate, and make adjustments for moving forward, the main goal here is to stay the course. Not very exciting, but hopefully also not very difficult.
Professional Development jump to 35:55
Bob
Professional development, for me, is less about refinement and more about expansion, largely because the context around me is changing. The firm is entering a period of active transition, and that reality has a direct impact on my role and responsibilities. My decision to move to the firm in 2019 was intentional, with a long-term goal of positioning myself for ownership, and that path demands a different kind of presence than the one I started with. Business development matters more now. Client relationships matter more. Visibility matters more. At the same time, my role within our student housing group has grown in ways that feel both promising and demanding, and while the work there is going well, there is always room to improve. The shift from senior project designer to senior project manager has changed the shape of my days, pulling me away from production and placing me squarely in the middle of people, processes, clients, and contractors, which means I spend much more time in the line of fire than I used to. Navigating issues, resolving conflict, and keeping momentum moving forward has become the work, and being the person who helps things actually happen turns out to be a role everyone appreciates.
That expansion has been uncomfortable in predictable ways, particularly when it comes to business development. Despite what people might assume, this remains the area I struggle with most. Small talk with people I do not yet have relationships with feels forced, and I am overly skilled at talking about myself as a way to connect, a habit that sometimes works and sometimes leaves me replaying conversations I would rather forget. Still, increased visibility has been unavoidable as my responsibilities have shifted, and exposure is part of the cost of wanting the next step. On large, fifty-million-dollar projects, I am also learning that the difference between good management and great management has less to do with effort and more to do with how far ahead you can see. Ten steps is no longer enough. Fifteen starts to feel like the minimum, which means I need a deeper understanding of the design and documentation process even when I am not the one drawing the lines.
The pressure shows up most clearly in how my days are structured. Meetings now consume the calendar, and talking about the work often competes directly with doing the work. The obvious solution would be to simply work longer hours, but that cost comes due elsewhere, and I am no longer interested in pretending otherwise. Compounding the issue is the number of decision makers involved, which is simply too high to be effective or expeditious. Too many voices slow momentum, dilute accountability, and turn progress into negotiation rather than action. My response has been to let others struggle a bit more before stepping in, which has made it easier to see who is ready for responsibility and who is not. My role is to support the people who rise, provide focus, and then get out of their way, even if that means absorbing the friction so they can stay on task.
Here is the part that might actually be useful. Professional growth at this stage is not about stacking more skills or titles onto your resume. It is about understanding how work actually moves through a system and then removing the things that slow it down. Letting capable people struggle a bit longer before stepping in is uncomfortable, but it builds stronger teams than constant rescue ever will. Seeing further ahead matters more than moving faster, especially on large projects where small decisions compound quickly. Too many decision makers is not a personality problem or a communication issue, it is a structural one. The temptation to solve all of this by working longer hours is strong, mostly because it is the one lever that feels immediately available. A role that only functions when you absorb all the pressure yourself is not leadership, it is a bottleneck. Expansion only works if it creates leverage, otherwise it is just burnout with a better title.
Andrew
This is an area that has taken on new meaning as of late for me. While I am still continuing with my efforts of professional development as an architect, I am now also seeking ways to develop in academia. If my plan is to continue in academia, then learning how to approach professional development in that area is essential.
I am learning each day how to find my way in academia. This should continue to be my main source of my professional development. I am still working to find a place within academia and hope to use this year to refine and define that place even more. I am learning that academia is very much about specialization as identity. By this, I mean that an area of specialization is more valuable than a highly capable generalized approach. As an architect, I pride myself on adaptability and overall architectural knowledge. In academia, that is described as “un-focused” and does not meet the desired standards or metrics.
Up to this point in my academic career, I could easily be described as “all over the place” when it came to a true academic identity. Read that as a “generalized approach” to learning and knowledge dissemination. I still may be there, but I began to narrow in late 2025 and I am planning to use 2026 to narrow my placement, pedagogy, and focus. I will be honest and say that I still do not feel like I quite “fit” in the academic mold, as least at a large Tier 1 Research University. I believe that mostly comes from my professional background, which is not highly valued at an institution where research dollars drive the system. I do not “bring in research dollars” through my knowledge or work and therefore, tend to be perceived in a lower light. While it is obvious I have a bit of a complex about this, I am learning to work through this idea and how to better format my skills and knowledge into more academically viable terms. I plan to continue to improve this area in the coming year and beyond. For example, I have been working on reframing my CV for about two months and hope to have it completed in January. This new “framing” will help me align with the academic condition better and maybe open new doors or at least let me even see new doors. Here’s hoping.
Personal Development jump to 47:11
Bob
Personal development, as it relates to the blog, podcast, and social channels, has less to do with growth and more to do with clarity. We have been doing this since 2018, publishing a new episode every two weeks, which means the easy topics are long gone. Finding ideas that feel genuinely interesting, hold up over time, and can sustain a full conversation between Andrew and me without pulling in outside experts has become harder. That difficulty is not a lack of curiosity. It is a higher bar. Some topics deserve a second look because time has passed and context has changed, but revisiting them only works if the conversation adds something new rather than replaying an old track with better audio.
Part of that tension comes from responsibility. Much of what I believed six years ago still holds true, which makes the idea of re-examination feel suspect. The difference now is not the conclusion, but the weight attached to it. Leadership and management stop being interesting ideas once you are responsible for outcomes, people, and decisions that ripple beyond your own desk. Opinions carry consequences when someone else might act on them, and that awareness has made me more cautious about presenting confidence as certainty. Intelligence and work ethic can make almost anything sound authoritative, even when it is not. That line matters more now than it used to.
The shift I am interested in leaning into is process. Process implies work in progress. It creates room for missteps, reversals, and tradeoffs without pretending that clarity arrives all at once. Breaking down decision-making sequences, especially the ones that did not go cleanly, feels like the most honest way forward. Those conversations do not end with answers. They end with better questions and a clearer understanding of how choices actually get made under real constraints. That approach also keeps the show grounded in lived experience rather than commentary, which matters more to me than sounding definitive.
Here is the part that might actually be useful. If you create work publicly long enough, certainty becomes the least interesting contribution you can make. Walking through how decisions unfold, where judgment was tested, and where things broke under pressure offers more value than polished conclusions ever will. Process builds trust because it reflects reality. Missteps are not weaknesses in this format. They are proof that the thinking is real. For listeners, especially those carrying responsibility themselves, understanding how decisions are shaped is often more valuable than being told what the decision should have been.
Andrew
So if we focus on the publication aspects related to this endeavor we have going, honestly it is an area that has me conflicted to an extent. The podcast, sure let’s keep going. The blog, again check. I believe I have knowledge and perspective to share with the world and want to continue to do that in as many ways a possible. I would even like to increase my reach in this area as I do think there is room to “grow”. Yet, I only have a set amount of time in a day, week, and month. So what does this mean for the future? I can agree with some of the statement made about the content of the podcast after so many years behind us. Some things become more difficult. It can be challenging to conceive of topics, run sheets, and content when we have already covered so much in almost 200 episodes. Also now that Bob and I are in different careers and at different points, it becomes difficult to find the alignments. There are certain elements that I would love to discuss but may not be part of his wheelhouse or even desired topic area. Sometimes, I think this could have worked better when I was owner and operator of a small firm and he was in his current role because there were so many similarities. All the issues he wants to work thought and discuss were challenges I faced years ago. But I am becoming farther removed from that element of my career and the professional environment has changed a great deal in the past 5-10 years. So while I can certainly contribute, it is not quite as aligned as I would hope either. So this places an even more narrow scope on our topic selection at times. We will, of course, continue to find common ground and make the show and hopefully still remain impactful and relevant to our listeners. That is always our goal.
Now, the social footprint is one that cuts both ways for me. I do want to engage more and be more productive here, but at the exact same time, I feel that sphere is so oversaturated that I don’t want to even be a part of it. Unfortunately, I see as much bad content as I do good content when it comes to the architecture profession. So I am not certain I want to contribute to that arena. I often fear that I would start calling out bad content and that is not really the best way to approach it. I would prefer to stay positive. Yet I know that in today’s world, you almost have to have a strong social/digital footprint to achieve many things. It is a measure of not only success at times but also authority. I am not saying I agree, just that it is the current societal condition. I think that will change in the coming years as the oversaturation reaches a tipping point, but still, for now, it remains one of the measures of “success”, if you want to call it that.
Yet, I do not want to spend my time creating this content and seeking the mass approval of others. Do I want to share my knowledge with others in a larger way, of course! Do I want to spend what little free time I have doing this, unclear. I know there is benefit to an increased effort in that sphere. As I have alluded to, I know it is not going away soon. I also know that authenticity is becoming a driver, especially as AI content keeps increasing. I would only approach it from a standpoint of authenticity, even if I am using AI to make some things. I am not automating all of the content via AI, which is increasingly annoying. But the sacrifice of my time and energy into that content could take the place of joy, relaxation, or freedom. On the flipside, an increase in that sphere could bring those opportunities for those elements as well in the long run. But my experience has been that the outcome of success in that area only produces more demand, more work, and more energy dedicated to its creation. So I remain conflicted about that portion of personal authority improvement. So I may choose to devote my time to other endeavors that mean more to me on a personal level.
And while this section is not overly personal, I do have several personal goals to put in motion for my life. I won’t get into details, as this is not really the place, but I have a list of personal goals that will move to the forefront this year and in the coming years as I become an empty nester and my life changes due to that fact. I am hoping it allows for some additional time focused on myself and what I want in my life.
Ep 192: Have a Plan
Taking time to reflect like this matters because momentum has a way of convincing us that movement equals progress, even when we haven’t stopped to decide where we’re headed. A plan, at least the kind we’re talking about here, isn’t a list of outcomes or a promise to do better. It’s a pause long enough to notice patterns, pressures, and tradeoffs that usually get buried once the year is in full swing. This episode leaned heavily on our own experiences not because they’re exceptional, but because they’re concrete, and concrete examples are easier to react to than abstract advice. The hope is that something in this conversation gives you language for your own situation, or at least a starting point that feels less overwhelming than staring at a blank page. You don’t need clarity on everything for a plan to matter. You just need enough direction to take the first intentional step instead of defaulting to the same ones you’ve always taken.
Cheers, and best of luck in 2026 –
Special thanks to our sponsor Construction Specialties, maker of architectural building products designed to master the movement of buildings, people, and natural elements. Construction Specialties has been creating inspired solutions for a more “intelligently built” environment since 1948. Visit MasteringMovement.net to learn more.