I'm going to make this my best year ever

It’s March 1st, 2018. What better time to start making resolutions? I don’t make a resolution each New Year. I think you’re only getting your hopes up to be crushed when you fail to live up to your own expectations.

Why not just live each day with resolve? Why not live in a way that makes you proud of yourself when your head hits the pillow at night? Still, I don't want to drift about aimlessly, without a plan, without any sort of goal in life. 

In that spirit and influenced by this article and this article by Leo Babauta, and this idea from David Cain, I’ve devised a compromise. Goals that are not terribly specific, but certainly still actionable. I’m going to be tracking my progress each month.

Make this year the best year ever

How do I want to grow?

• Grow in compassion for others
• Grow intellectually—do as much seeking as I can
• Grow to know my mission
• Grow smaller with my waste and impact
• Grow happier and make others around me happier

What do I want to learn?

• I want to learn about other cultures
• I want to learn meditation
• I want to learn how to be a better housemate, boyfriend
• I want to learn more about healthy foods
• I want to about economics
• I want to learn more chords and inversions on guitar

What skills and capacities would I like to develop?

• Open-mindedness toward other ways of life
• Peacefulness in practice
• Ability to cook better, clean better
• Clean eating and fitness—the capacity to sustain lengthy exercise
• The capacity to understand markets and financial interactions
• Greater ability to “jam” on the guitar with other musicians

What areas of my life need some refreshing? Health, mindfulness, relationships, work?

• Health 100%
• I need to pour into my job only so that I can use it to get fully free of debt
• I need to Spring Clean and get rid of some things I’ve acquired accidentally or thoughtlessly over the last year
• I want to figure out my mission, what I can contribute, why I’m here

What do I want to put my focus on, if I could just choose 4-6 things to focus on?

• Mindfulness, everyday
• Reading
• Drinking more water, planning meals, buying groceries, cooking and eating clean
• Sitting down with an acoustic guitar and a book on jazz

If I were looking back on 2018 a year from now, what would be fantastic to see? What changes would I be psyched to have happened?

• Anxieties managed. Fears calmed
• Gained sense of mission and a good start on my way to accomplishing it
• Backlog of saved books and articles read, possible writings on what I’ve learned

 

My Depth Year

The guiding philosophy is “Go deeper, not wider.”

No new hobbies or books are allowed during this year. Instead, I have to find the value in what I already own or what I’ve already started. I should use this year to finish the books, magazines, and online articles I have saved.

I'll improve on skills I already have rather than learning new ones. I'll consume media I’ve already stockpiled instead of acquiring more. Movie night will be movies I already own on iTunes, listening will be to albums I already own, etc.

This idea of the Depth Year will help me focus on my primary goals, listed above.

What will I do to stay on track?

Practice two daily rituals in the morning: Mindfulness meditation and reading.

Journal my thoughts in the evening and keep a food journal.

Develop a status report to track my progress.