I recently posted my goals for the month but didn’t really have in mind any goals for the entire year until now. (And no, I didn’t pick a “word” to epitomize the year).
The three goals I have are:
Live with less
Over the years I’ve become less and less of a “things” person. I don’t refresh my wardrobe every season (goodbye expanding wardrobe). I don’t stockpile home goods (goodbye 100-pack of trash bags). And I try to not keep unnecessary junk around (hello Goodwill donation bins).
This year I want to live with even less. For many reasons:
- Less things to move
- Less of an impact on the planet
- Less things to clean / maintain
- More financial savings
- More uncluttered living space
But how? Simply by:
- Using what I have – ie: I already have a black cardigan that is in perfectly find condition, I don’t need another one
- Keeping a JIT inventory of house / grocery items – don’t buy cleaning things until they’re about to run out, don’t buy groceries until what I have is used up and needs replaced
- Waiting on purchases – any “big ticket” items over a certain dollar amount need to be waited on and purchased only after having done research. I also used to be a sucker for sales (OMG IT’S 75% OFF FOR BLACK FRIDAY!) but I once read that you should only buy sale items that you wouldn’t mind purchasing at retail price
Be slow to anger
This one makes me laugh based on the events of today (Dillards!! shakes fist) but it’s true. I have a short fuse and long memory. But carrying a grudge breaks your back and being angry just makes my blood pressure rise but does nothing else. So here’s my plan:
- Identify the things I know make me angry or sad – Traffic…merrrr
- Remain / promote calm – Listening to a podcast while I sit in traffic instead of shaking my fist, for example
- Avoid or eliminate occurrences – This is more difficult but an example might be going to and from work earlier or later to avoid rush hour
- Get back to normal quickly – the fact is that angry, stressful situations will inevitably arise and nothing will help but pure red rage. Even if it does, my hope is that I can give myself 5 minutes to be angry and then move on
Do what matters, leave the rest
I spend an ungodly amount of time doing….nothing important. We all have things we do that don’t contribute to our lives. For a lot of people it’s watching TV or playing phone games or surfing social media. For me? It’s busy work.
Unless my day is filled from start to end with things to do I don’t feel like I’ve “done” anything that day. But to be honest, even when it is filled, I still don’t accomplish anything because the things I fill my day with aren’t meaningful. Sureeeee I need to check the mail and wash the dishes and send some emails and this and that. Those things contribute to running a household, maintaining relationships, living a healthy lifestyle, and getting work done. But are they contributing to my life as a whole?
This year I want to do more of the things that restore my soul, ignite a fire in my heart, and make me proud. And less of the other stuff. This doesn’t mean slacking on my duties at home or putting off work so I can read and take long baths. To me, this goal will be realized by:
- Identifying what I want to be doing with my time – reading, leaning, taking walks, working on my side business…
- Recognizing ahead of time events, issues, etc. coming my way with work, life, friends and family, and my side business – what will be taking up my time?
- Prioritizing what I currently have to do, what is coming up that needs to get done, and what I want to be doing – at work we give features a priority. If multiple clients are demanding a feature, it’s P0. Mission critical. GET THIS THING IN. If it’s a “nice to have” but the world won’t keep spinning without it, it’s a P2 or P3. P0’s get done. P3 eventually, hopefully get done
And that’s it! Those are the three things I genuinely hope to work on throughout the year to help create a better life for myself.