Alright, it’s been a while that I’ve been gone but now I’m back. Hello thar.
In between spending an excessive amount of energy –
1. Dancing my ass off (metaphorical, not literal, unfortunately)
2. Eating (this might speak to my sad parentheses in #1)
3. Settling into my new role in marketing, branding and strategy
4. Adjusting to life in a new (york) city, and
5. Letting my hypochondriac brain worry about what I’m coming into contact with and breathing in, especially in the subway
… here I am. HERE I AM.
People often say that you needn’t wait for the New Year to cast a list of resolutions – that we should be crossing things off our bucket lists every day. I clearly disagree because I’m only human and need the inspiration of a clean slate to motivate myself into action. That being said, 2013 was an abnormal year for me filled with ups and downs, yays and boos, and I was the lead generator of that clean slate i.e. I encourage New Year’s Resolutions but like much of life, if you haven’t created a list, you have 365 days a year to turn around and create one… even if that list consists of… one.
Alright, in the spirit of creating some social currency, here’s my list:
1. Be healthy – mentally, physically, emotionally, above and beyond. And yes, implicitly, this is accompanied by the desire to lose weight. There will be an entire other post about this in the following weeks so if you’re keen on joining the crowds screaming for Body Image Appreciation, please don’t jump the gun.
2. Write a children’s book – I have pages and pages of stories I have tried writing and have yet to finish. And even as I write this, I am trying to think of a moral. If you have one, hit me up. If you don’t… or even if you do. Please support me.
3. Write everyday this year (and maybe more). More about this later.
A seemingly easy list but they’re all things I’ve tried countless times to achieve and have failed at (procrastinated at) miserably. It has come down to this – a New Year, and a (somewhat) public statement to keep me on track. That, and the untamable gnaw to keep achieving.
If you haven’t created a list, I do encourage you to create one – to think about achievable and realistic things you’d like to be doing this year. Not “should” be, but things just for you, that you’d like to do. Reward yourself with things you’ve never let yourself do FOR YOU.
And then, push that one step further and set a goal for yourself e.g. goal #3 above is something I haven’t done in about 5 years, or maybe even more. The kickoff for that was the first day of 2014 and (shameless plug) I’ve gone and started a blog, which I intend to blast with thoughts everyday. If you’d like to learn more about me as a person, please subscribe there.
If your goal is to run a marathon, don’t say, “Next week” or something ridiculous like that if you haven’t been training for it. Set yourself the goal of 6 months (or whatever) down the line, and start running tomorrow. As per my previous post, in case you need a reminder since it really was a while ago, BABY STEPS.
So, I reiterate:
1. Think of things you WANT to be doing – be realistic and shortlist. I find writing things down and telling other people about it helps keep me accountable. Figure out what you need and enable that support system.
2. Think of the reward(s) associated with achieving those things – for me, often, the reward is simple: the simple gratification of having done something just for me
3. Set a timeline (obvious point not to forget: it doesn’t have to end in December 2014! Maybe it’ll take you 1.5 years to train for a marathon!)
4. Get moving. If you need to envision #2, do that! I find that getting past the first couple of weeks of any new activity is my hump. Maybe it’ll be just as, shorter than or longer than that for you but I hope you look forward to overcoming it.
5. And if it’s not too cheesy, do what I do – Create a mantra
Really simple but not that easy to achieve. Let’s keep each other on track this year.
Over and out. Happy New Year, guys!
Sam
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