I have a friend who is wise for his age. I asked what the source of his wisdom was, and in his gentle way he shared that he chose how he wanted to spend his life. There is so much wisdom in that tiny statement.
See, we are inherently powerful people birthed with free choice. Yet most of us let the system define how we live our lives.
I think modern monasticism starts with choice. It starts with choosing how we are going to live our lives; it starts with being deliberate about finding a way of life that we don't need a holiday from. It starts with boundaries, with saying yes to some stuff so we know what we need to say no to. We think goals are only for motivational speakers who stand up and stir crowds, but I think goals are good for everyone. They are benchmarks, or the definitions of our desire to be intentional in choosing our way instead of the way the world dishes out so freely.