It's 4 weeks into the new year. Most people have settled into their work routines and have some idea of how a typical week looks like. For those who have set some goals or new year resolutions or whichever other label you choose to use, how are they coming along? Chances are that the majority of us will feel that we can do better. I am no exception. At the beginning of the year I created a simple Canva design (it was too pretty not to) with some areas that I wish to do more/better of this year. My efforts have been quite haphazard at best.
Even though I don't usually set goals for the new year, I felt like I wanted to at least have some areas of focus and growth for the year. I acknowledge that 10 things doesn't seem very focused, but these are areas that I feel are important to me. At the time of writing this post, I have made some headway into half of what I listed above. It's nothing to shout about, but I wanted to use this first post of 2023 to document down 5 points that have worked for me so far.
1. Define what the goal means to you and break it down into smaller parts
All of us know that setting vague goals like "exercise more" or "save more" doesn't really do much to nudge us in the right direction. In my defense, the visual above is just a broad overview (keeping posts uncluttered gains me more likes on Instagram) and I have a detailed version of each of the 10 goals on one of the Notes on my iPhone. We have to decide what makes sense to us before we can commit to it. For example, I made a pact with a friend to go for weekly walks at one of the parks near where we stay. That ensures I factor in some form of additional walking on top of my usual lifestyle. Do we succeed every week? Of course not. Some weeks the weather puts us to ruin, at other times we may have a more important commitment that evening. But it is something we can always remind each other about, which brings me to my second point.
2. Do it together with a friend Having an accountability partner who understands your intention and yet won't shame you when you fail is underrated. Of course the partnership has to go both ways. Based on my personal experience, it is always easier to embark on something together with someone rather than do it on your own, especially when that someone also values the importance of what you are trying to do. One of the new skills I want to learn in 2023 is the basics of Graphic Design, and it just so happens that in a recent conversation with another friend she was also keen to skill herself in this area. We are now starting the process of looking for a course which can value-add to both of us in this area. Let's see if we are successful a few months down the road.
3. Create time and space Going back to the example of exercising, if I am going to work 12 hour days every week and even on the weekends, chances are it will be extremely hard to exercise consistently twice or thrice every week - I will simply be too tired. Speaking from personal experience, when I was in my full-time teaching job previously, all I ever wanted when I reached home was to sit and stone on my sofa for 30 minutes or more. Exhaustion simply took over and I did not have any more energy to even go down for a walk. If I did not devote one Saturday afternoon a month to write for this blog, I would not be able to achieve my goal of writing at least one post every month.
4. Just do it This is a cliche line from Nike, but it still works wonders. You will be surprised at how much you can accomplish if you just start somewhere. In his book Atomic Habits, James Clear advocates for building habits by starting with something so small that makes it easy for you to get going. Case in point, I was thinking about what topic to write for this first blog post of 2023, and this will probably not be a bestselling post like my 2022 Reflection post which garnered close to 200 views, but I am glad I decided to write this post anyway. If running 2.4 km sounds too daunting, just aim for a much shorter distance - say one round of 400 metres. You might keep going for the second or third round after that. And even if you don't, one round sounds doable enough and you will probably do it. Is reading one chapter of a book too much for you? How about just 5 pages on the day that you have set aside for reading? Sometimes when you start the momentum actually builds along the way and you'll be surprised how far you can go.
5. We are all a work in progress If there's anything I've learnt the past few years, almost all of us need to be kinder to ourselves. Oftentimes we hold ourselves to standards that we won't even expect from our closest friends. Put some systems in place, have a go at it, but don't condemn yourself when you fail. Reflect on your experience. Think of a more fun way to try again. Share your journey with someone. Life is a journey, not a destination. Savour it and enjoy it whenever you can.
Even though this is a simple post, I enjoyed writing this at Huggs and sipping my green tea while listening to a classic song playing in the background. Hope that you are having a great start to the year so far!
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