Time for some goal-setting for the New Year. Some people make "resolutions" but I set goals, instead of "resolutions". James Clear says, "Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become." I love this because it is TRUE. If you workout one time, you are a person who "worked out" not someone who "works out" or cares about their fitness. So I make goals of the person I want to become, instead of "resolutions."
3 ideas to start your year:
— James Clear (@JamesClear) January 2, 2022
1) You don't rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.
2) Every action you take is a vote for the type of person you wish to become.
3) Decide the type of person you want to be. Prove it to yourself with small wins.
All fairly straight-forward. But the context is key, here's more on those goals.
In September of 2021, my health insurance and Peloton decided to offer free one-year memberships to the app. I took them up on it, because "why not?". It was free and I had nothing to lose. I signed up, and saw they have all sorts of different classes aside from Cycling/Running. I tried strength, Yoga, and HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) classes and really enjoyed the 10 minute HIIT classes. I kept doing it for the rest of the year, a 1-3 times a week. My goal this year is to simply KEEP doing that. Do I want to improve and push myself to work out for more time and more often? Absolutely! But that's not my main goal, I want to be a person who "works out". I'm going to set my bar at an achievable level and go from there.
My wife has made a goal to read more. I like reading, but I don't make the time for it. I used to read before bed, and quit sometime around having our baby early last year. I couldn't keep the light on in our room because the baby was sleeping there so I just stopped reading. That excuse is gone now, with the baby is sleeping soundly through the night, in her crib, in her room. I can keep the light on and read before bed again, so I am. First, I'm going to finish "The Obstacle is the Way" by Ryan Holiday. I started it awhile back, but I'm going to finish it. I'm also reading a Star Wars book my wife bought me awhile back. Always been a big Star Wars fan, but never ventured into the books. We'll see if I enjoy it.
When I was learning to code I was always working on something. When I started to take on freelance work and doing frontend development professionally I started to have less free time. I have a freelance client that is wrapping up soon, so I want to get back into shipping side-projects. Mostly to learn more, pushing myself to improve at my job. And like many out there, I'd love to make money from a side-project. But setting aside that desire, I mostly want to make cool stuff. And the reason for blogging more? To hold myself accountable to what I'm doing. I may have a technical post here and there, I may only have personal updates. Or maybe I'll start sharing my lego builds here.
No big call to action, but if you want to give me feedback or more generally keep up with me, I'm most active on twitter @pickleat.