...and YES, I do feel a change in my life . 2018 has been just that, a catalyst leading to confident strides into the wilderness of 2019. It's not just the weightloss—that's not the endgame here. Yes, I've removed somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 lbs—again, I won't know definitively until November 20, but C'MON you and I both know it's in the bag already! The weightloss process is just an outer manifestation conforming to my mind. But, I'm not referencing the weightloss success...

—it is the mindset that changes; it's the confidence to dream possibilities, a shift away from merely managing a limited scope and preventing losses. It moves into a tour of potential, not pipe dreams floating untethered from the ground, but gains made from an approach similar to this:

• Frequent discussions;
• Ambitious in scope;
• Measured by specific metrics and milestones;
• Transparent for everyone in the organization to see.

—see this great write-up from MIT SMR

Sidebar: I was unaware I was following FAST—I just organically found my way here. I love its ambitious nature; if goals aren't ambitious, you're just doing maintenance.

So on this Monday morning, a moment of the week far from abstraction while possessing a daybreak with all the realism of a sledgehammer, what in the world am I talking about?! I've applied to the University of Memphis, specifically its UofM Global online program to study the discipline of accounting.

I like accounting conceptually: how the system moves; the exactness and the optimization required; identifying cuts; exploring financial opportunities; and so on, clearly, something I've only experienced on a consumer level. There is not the fluffiness of some fields where qualification weighs heavier than quantification. I very much look forward to furthering my knowledge of the overall framework of business, a rich launchpad for further opportunities.

Accounting intersects with my NT rational temperament. Yes, I've had an IT career in desktop / server / network support; yes, I dabbled in English pedagogy and got the creds and the postcards on the wall; yes, I'm currently a pretty awesome homeschool teacher. I have been fortunate to possess a strong aptitude for an interdisciplinary approach. But, all of that is about to change. Today, I wade out beyond the shallow waters and dive deep into a single discipline to specialize in the arcane recesses of accounting.

Look, I'm 40. Some folks are wrapping up their lives and coasting for the next 25 years until they can buy that RV and cruise on up to all the glitz and glamour that is the Branson, MO rhinestone. That's NOT me—I'm retooling myself for the 2nd half. I've seen how life has been since I was 15 with the first 25 years, and now it is time for my next 25.

There is a whole life that happens at the start of 40—I witnessed it myself for I was born the year my father was 40. At the age of 4, I remember vaguely his time as a paper salesman while being a reserve sheriff's deputy in Slidell, LA., namely because I liked to eat paper samples and he gave me his badge after leaving that job. Later, he was a Shelby County Sheriff's Deputy, before becoming a manager at a regional commercial printer. Finally, he started his own print shop and ran that for the next 15 years. All of that was in a span of 26 years after 40.

This is me taking my shot at 40. I've got the next 25 years to plan out; I'm so stoked at the possibilities of what I will be doing.