I know, I know. My previous post is titled “A Visual Goal,” but really? I’m not much of a goal setter.
I used to be. Back when I thought if I could just get my poop in a pile, my life would be so much better! I’d be smarter and thinner and kinder and prettier. I’d be so much more patient and all the things I wanted would show up. All I had to do was Hit Those Goals!
Yeah… that’s not how my ADHD brain works. Or my general lack of Type A, obsessive tendencies. Or the fact that life seems to happen on a regular, if not daily basis.
A few years ago, I decided to do themes instead of goals, and that worked pretty well. Like the year when my theme was “Eat, Drink, and Be Merry.” I wanted to eat a more healthy diet, drink more water and maybe a little less caffeine, and do things that made me happy. I’ve done “Mind, Body, Spirit,” too, but it was a little too esoteric.
This year is already promising to be more complicated than can easily fit into a general theme, though. We’re officially moving at some point, we’ll need to get this house ready to sell, and DS will move back home for a while after finishing his time in the USMC.
In addition, I’m going to try to do at least one craft fair per month starting in March, so there’s a lot to do on the production end. Not to mention, the normal things like:
- finding an exercise routine I can maintain… at both houses
- finding vegetarian recipes so we can accommodate DS, who is the only vegetarian Buddhist Marine I know
- potentially starting a YouTube channel
- slowly beginning a self-guided academic study of Folklore and Mythology
- maintaining something like a spiritual practice
- and oh yeah, write a novel.
The biggest trouble I’ve had with the whole goal thing is that I start the year with a list, then forget half of it by mid-January. Around May or June, I think, “Hey, didn’t I have a plan for this year?” Then I find the list and laugh myself silly.
One of things I want to try this year is to not work on the whole year all the time. Instead, I’m breaking it up into seasons. So between now (just after the Winter Solstice) and the Spring Equinox in March, I want to have accomplished some aspect of the final goal.
For instance, I’m giving myself January to do some research on what type of strength-training classes are available, visit a few gyms, and pick a gym and a class to start with.
I’m going to try two new vegetarian recipes a month until the beginning of Spring.
I’ve ordered the textbook for the Folklore class I’m reading through, and found a copy of the article assigned for the first week. That’s my whole task through January. Read a 10-page article.
Etc, etc. You see how it goes.
The method I’m trying this year is to actually write down the steps in my planner. My previous method of writing just the deadlines didn’t work because one day, I’d open my planner to the page with the deadline and go, “I genuinely don’t remember writing that, and I certainly didn’t retain any knowledge of this in the weeks prior to now.”
Instead, I’m taking a page from the class syllabus I’m using as a guide and setting reminders.
- This would be a good week to read that article.
- Hey, look up a new recipe.
- Don’t forget to do a gym visit or use the free trial.
Not so much goals as finding one of the bees buzzing around in my brain and following it for a while before picking up a new bee to follow. Eventually, they all end up at a hive filled with honey.
Loom Blossom 