While I was looking around for a way to arrange my New Year's Resolutions this year, I stumbled upon this article, which I think provided a really good framework for different areas of life. It's a reasonably high-level framework, but it's not abstracted too much to be useless - for instance, I found some that had fewer life areas, but they were so generalised that they didn't really provide very useful distinctions.
While I believe in goal setting for motivation, I often think it can be too rigourous and taken too far. For instance, I don't think people should have 'life plans' or even 5-year plans. Firstly, because they aren't flexible enough to take advantage of opportunities that might be missed with too much focus on other goals, and secondly, I think the world moves too fast now to think that how we do things now will be similar to how we do things in five years time - it all just gets too rubbery projecting too far forward. I'm sure there are plenty of examples to illustrate this. I think goal setting should be more flexible, and crucially that failure to meet a goal is not a big deal. There are many reasons for failure, but the important thing is the act of continuing on.
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A lot of my goals for this year are to continue doing things that I found useful last year. I had one rule though: no more than two goals per life area (except for the 'Energy' life area, because those are supposed to be the fun things to give you a break from developing the other areas). Again, this rule was to prevent me from being overly specific and creating too many competing interests for my time.
Here's what I've decided on pursuing in 2015. Most are self-explanatory if you have read some of my other posts, but I have provided some more details if I thought them necessary:
Mental Health
1. Actually find out if I have Seasonal Affective Disorder/Cyclothymia
Jess and I have suspected for some time that I might experience symptoms of either of the above throughout the year. Until now, I haven't thought about actually finding out with a proper diagnosis; firstly, because that would require me acknowledging that there might be something wrong with me, and secondly, because I don't know what I would do with the information if it turned out to be true. I'm not sure if I'd be okay with medicating away what has essentially been some part of my personality for at least the last five years. The other reason is that if it turns out to be false, then I am essentially finding out that it is psychosomatic and that I experience the same ups and downs as everyone else. But this year, I will face that fear and seek a professional opinion.
2. Continue practicing mindfulness with Headspace
Physical Health
1. Continue to stay active through the 7 Minute Workout Challenge app, using my FitBit, going to gymnastics, walking Odin, riding my bike to work, drumming, stretching - whatever really!
Intelligence
1. Get my learner's motorcycle licence
Something I have wanted to do for a while - mainly because it is a brand new skill, but also because I'm a stingy economist and motorbikes are super-efficient transport that can be parked just about anywhere for free. Basically winning life once I have bought an old Postie bike :)
2. Continue Mind Expansion - aim to finish SAS programmer certifications
Once again, I like continuing to develop skills and push the boundaries of what I know. This can sometimes be a double-edged sword though, because you also continue to find out how much you don't know.
Social Life/Relationships
1. Begin tracing my family tree
I've always wanted to find out a bit more about where I have come from.
2. Keep in touch with my family
Legacy
1. Donate more to charity and volunteer
I read this article a while ago, and one particular quote that stood out for me was this:
Inside, you have great compassion for poor people. Great. Does that result in you doing anything about it? Do you hear about some terrible tragedy in your community and say, "Oh, those poor children. Let them know that they are in my thoughts"? Because fuck you if so -- find out what they need and help provide it. A hundred million people watched that Kony video, virtually all of whom kept those poor African children "in their thoughts." What did the collective power of those good thoughts provide? Jack fucking shit. Children die every day because millions of us tell ourselves that caring is just as good as doing. It's an internal mechanism controlled by the lazy part of your brain to keep you from actually doing work.I have often talked about volunteering, but have never actually gotten around to doing it. So yeah, less talk, more action on this front this year.
2. Continue writing this blog - 26 posts over the year/ average 1 per fortnight
As I said in a previous post, a weekly goal was too much and caused the content to suffer a little. Hopefully with more time, this will make for more interesting posts.
Wealth
1. Continue to save for our house deposit
2. Invest in an index fund
Energy
1. Hone in better on what gives me energy
2. Brew at least 1 batch of beer/cider
3. Read 12 books - at least 6 non-fiction and 6 fiction
4. Make some time to play video games guilt free!
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What are your plans for the new year? Let me know in the comments.
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