Decide on 5 things you want to accomplish today. Be realistic, based on time & energy available, but do make progress on things that have been waiting a while. If you can do something that makes the week ahead much easier, definitely get that in there too.
Mine are:
1. Finish adding categories to all Discardian posts.
2. Finish presentation for tomorrow.
3. Do laundry.
4. Write at least the next few Discardian posts.
5. Dust and sweep apartment.
Try out some changes in your life. Do something cool & stretch yourself.
Check out these great resolutions from the folks at Make.
I strongly encourage you to try bold new adventures and push yourself in creative ways.
Participate in National Novel Writing Months or the like. Take classes in some new art form or music. Try out new crafts. Make improvements on your home. Start up a topical blog. ;-)
Whatever you decide to do, it can really help you keep it fun if you place some limits on your expectations for it: "Just 30 days". "One semester and I'll drop the class if I'm not liking it for the third session in a row". "I'll see if I can make this one beginner project that is supposed to take about 4 hours". "First I'll just take on replacing curtains and then think about the rest of the remodeling after I see how that goes".
And, of course, the obvious one: "I'll write a post a day about Discardia for one year".
Which brings us to a little reminder about the next Discardia holiday, the 21st of December, 2006, to the 18th of January, 2007. It's a nice long one and a great finale to a wonderful year of thinking about this whole topic in depth.
Over the next couple weeks leading up to this delightfully long Discardian celebration, think about what you'd like to accomplish this time. I'd suggest picking one big goal and then a couple small goals in other areas.
Remember the more challenging areas as you mull this over. When you're going to work on something that's tougher for you, it helps to know you're only trying to make some progress within a finite area for now. Suggestions to consider for your big goals:
- personal relationships that are not going well
- feelings that your creative life is stagnant
- financial bad habits
- eating and/or exercise routines
- overall life goals
The secondary goals should help keep you motivated on the big one by being easier to succeed at them. Pick very finite projects or changes such as home improvements, getting a new haircut, finally setting up a backup routine for your computer, etc. Because you probably won't completely change that big situation, it can help you feel good to have checked a couple things off your list along with making a bit of progress on the harder goal.
A college degree that is just about training for a particular career in a particular field is a gigantic gamble. It leaves you vulnerable to changes large and small.
I want a college education to give you something better.
What is valuable about a college education is not something a lousy economic cycle can take away.
Read more of Janet D. Stemwedel's thoughts on why to go to college. Like travel the big benefit is what it does to the way you think.
How was your Friday flake out? Did you do fun things and sleep in today and generally enter the weekend very relaxed? Hope so.
Today is a bit of an assessment day. How are things going with you now as compared to, say, this time last year? What's changed and what hasn't? What do you still want to change?
Do a little soul searching.
Take a little stroll around your house.
Balance your checkbook and get a picture of your overall financial situation.
Note your progress, your problem areas, and your next steps.
Keep a calm spirit and a clear eye to see things as they really are and you'll be most effective in changing things for the better.
Okay, it's been 21 days since I suggested we each start a new habit. How did you do? Better than before we started?
Running your own business is hard work and 99%+ of the folks who do it never get rich, I'd guess, but it can be hugely rewarding in other ways.
Here's a nice inspiring little story about a 25 year old doing his own thing and doing it well.
Got something you keep vaguely intending to change? Start now.
Pick something measurable - not "be more active" but "walk an average of more steps each day of the week than I did the previous week" - and start measuring it.
They say it takes 21 days to really acquire a new habit, so let's get going. I've got mine, what's yours?
How about that, huh? Six months of daily tips! And my brain, good links, and your suggestions haven't dried up yet, so more to come.
So what's today's tip?
When you come up with a wild idea that won't really cost you any money, where you have some experience in that area and you do really like the idea, sleep on it for a few days and if you still want to do it, go for it!
It'll probably work out great and even if it doesn't, I bet you'll learn a lot from the whole project.
Don't avoid something just because you're afraid to fail or you're also being afraid to succeed.
From LifeHacker, here's a link to The 10 Commandments of Goal-Setting.
My favorite is number 9, Thou Shalt Inspect What Thy Expect:
The Shelf life of all plans is limited.
I have written about objects that are doing "dream duty" and which therefore should be considered for discarding if the dream isn't really yours anymore. This is the purely mental version of that.
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