I have been wanting to pick up writing again for the longest time — that’s my answer to everyone who asks me what happened to my writing…for the record, I am still surprised that people were keeping up. Oh well, here we are.
This had to be written and out in front of eyes before it’s too late to still be talking about the New Year and goal-setting, otherwise it’s just weird.
Anyway, I don’t set goals for new years; I mean I definitely used to at some earlier stage in life, but I cannot pinpoint precisely when I stopped — perhaps it was not that long ago. My reasoning is that as a person, I don’t tend to think of what I want to do in huge chunks of time, and a year is a huuuuuuge chunk of time…like it or not.
When I used to set yearly goals, I would set nothing less than 5 of them for different aspects of life and by month 2, I couldn’t keep up and would judge myself for not keeping up, then go into a downward spiral. Why? Because all I could see was the whole year ahead and a bunch of rules I set in the past to guide me into the future…hmm, go back and read that again.
As opposed to setting big goals for future Karen to ponder about and not keep to, I now split my time into smaller chunks and focus on what’s in front of me. First of all, no intentional goal setting just because it’s Jan 1 — the way I see it a change in date does not mean that you suddenly have more or less to do. If any goal is to be set, it should be driven by an action or an objective, not a date change. Secondly, I find that further down into the year, I have evolved as a person based on actions, experiences, people and that prompts a need for new goals. So, why should I limit myself to what I wanted in January?
Now another New Year has rolled around, I have precisely this, in this moment:
- A list of work objectives for months 1–3 (goal setting at work is a whole different ballgame by the way. Ignore all my advice here for company goals).
- I enjoyed meditation and yoga for 6 months of last year, so I’ll keep those up.
- I read 54 books last year out of pure enjoyment. I have a list right now that I haven’t counted yet, but let’s see how I get on by December.
- I had a lot of alcohol-inspired adventures towards the end of 2019, so I’m not looking for these anytime soon because I want to be clear-eyed for now. Who knows how long this will last?
- Save more, but this is so random so instead I use an app that forces me to do it. Financial accountability is a whole thing when you try it of your own willpower (Hint: it usually doesn’t work, because we’re human).
- Whatever else comes up on my to-do list on a daily/weekly basis (I might not love yearly goals, but I cannot lie, I love to-do lists).
I guess maybe these look a bit like goals but you get my point. If long ass goals scare you, and you never attain them then do not feel the pressure to set them, just because everyone around you is doing that. Feel free to set shorter goals, and maybe don’t even call them goals (for some reason, there’s so much tension in the word itself).
In case I missed this out, It’s less about the setting and more about the doing. What would you like to do today? Go ahead and do it. I have been going around saying that 2019 was my year of Personal Growth (more on that later) but the biggest takeaway I had was to learn to live in the present. If you think about it, you can’t live in the past or the future, even if you tried.
So whatever happens, whatever doesn’t happen — it’s alright.
Hey, I enjoyed doing this so I guess I’ll keep at it?
Happy New Year. (When exactly is it not allowed to say that anymore? February?)
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