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.
Today would be a great day to get together with someone you like and respect and talk about your dreams.
Not (necessarily) those things your brain does while you sleep, but what you've been wishing for in the past and lately.
What we're longing for and daydreaming about is very important to who we are. It informs the stories we want told about us when we're gone.
Talk with someone today about who you've wanted to become, what turned out to happen, what you're dreaming of now.
Maybe you'll also talk about how to make those new dreams real, but that's not important today. Just talk and remember and mull things over. Put some ingredients in your mental soup pot and see what it cooks up after you let it simmer for a week or two.
Here are some good tips on motivation from Life Hacker.
This bit made me smile:
To motivate himself for the marathon, for example, my friend has made an agreement with his sister. He's writing her a check for a sizable sum, and if he doesn't complete the race, she's going to cash the check. Now he has a lot more at stake than health and fitness, which by itself is normally a relatively easy thing to ignore.
Trade in some of your scepticism to keep a wild idea alive in your heart.
Me? I want to go hear the music in Bamako, Mali.
How are things going? What has changed since the beginning of the year? Are the goals you had then the ones you have now?
Take some time today to walk and think and sit and dream.
Maybe it's a good day to set or re-commit to a goal, yes?
When there's something you know you really want to do and circumstances are all lined up to support it, but it's a really big leap, ask yourself if the regret if you don't do it outweighs the risks if you do.
It's good to plan, it's good to have safety nets and it's good to keep yourself from getting over-extended in general, but sometimes it is the right time to stretch.
Don't make yourself miss out on the good, but hard stuff just because it's hard.
Go for it!
Want to remind yourself of a principle, question or short list of goals?
Create a text file with it, open it in your browser, and set it to be your browser's home page shown when you open a new window or tab.
My friend Lance Arthur wrote a wonderful piece of advice which I keep taped up on the inside of my kitchen cupboards:
That debate about fat vs. carbs and what should one eat to lose weight is rearing its head again, and speaking as a person who has recently lost weight, I can tell you what the answer was for me: Eat Less. That's what I did. Oh, sure, I cut some things from my diet completely (donuts, potato chips, soft drinks) but mostly I just cut back on everything. I also stopped eating snacks at night, never ate dinner after 8pm, started eating something for breakfast (it jump-starts your metabolism) and began getting off my ass and exercising. But there's no magic cure. You can adopt a new diet and lose weight, but unless you stick to it (you really never want to eat pasta again? no lasagna? no spaghetti? ever again?) you're bound to gain it back. And you can come up with all sorts of excuses for not losing weight, but I'd probably label you lazy. Get off your ass and go outside and put down that fried chicken leg and drink more water and stop going to anything with a drive-thru and eat less. Eat Less.
(reprinted with permission)
Discardia is an attitude as much as an act. You don't need to make a lot of massive changes all at once or do every activity I suggest to be a discardian; just commit yourself to change and take more consideration about what new things you bring into your life.
Do what you can. If you don't have time or energy to clean that closet, just do 30 minutes on it or go through the things on one shelf.
Don't fall into the trap of spending a ton of money on new organizational toys unless you're really sure you'll get enough benefit from them. Maybe before you buy that expensive storage compartment system, you should dry-run the concept with some stacked shoeboxes. Finish your first rounds of purges before you lock yourself into a new arrangement for things.
Whatever you do though, do a little something that starts you moving in the direction you want to go.
Do one thing, just a little thing, right now.
Today, go into your bedroom and see what pleases you and what doesn't.
Are there things in there which don't belong? Figure out where they can move instead. If they can go nowhere else (hello, studio apartment dwellers!) could they be contained or disguised in a way to make them bother you less?
Are there things missing, for example, enough dresser space or a rug by the bed to shield your morning toes from a cold floor? Make a list and, if you have something on it which matters more to you in the bedroom then where it currently is, move it in right now.
Would a different layout make you more comfortable and work better? Thinking about the morning light can be helpful here.
For those with larger places to live, are you even using the right room for your bedroom? If another room might be better, play with the idea on paper and make some measurements before you start moving furniture. Trust me on this one.
At the least, find one thing you can do today which will make you happier in your bedroom from now on.
I asked you new year's day to think about what you love, now I want you to think about whether your home supports you in doing those things.
Do you want to dedicate a little more time to reading for pleasure? Do you have a comfortable place to do it? Can you arrange for a big chair with good reading light and a small bookcase right at hand?
Are you planning to get out and do some backpacking this year? How's your equipment? Buried in the basement or the back of a closet? Or scattered around the place? What about pulling it together and storing it in a more organized way so you don't have a roadblock to getting out of town?
Love to cook, but your kitchen is a disaster area? Well, maybe it's time for another Friday Freedom round and ridding your kitchen of non-essentials. Would some reorganization give you a better workspace?
Figure out what you can do to set the stage for the life you want to be living.
Do you like tea or cocoa? Make yourself a cup. Or grab a coffee or a beer or big glass of water. Pick up some paper and a pen, sit down and write some things for yourself.
What would qualities would you like your home to have?
Think back over the places you lived. What was great about each of them? What didn't you like and want to avoid in the future?
Write until you're pretty sure you have captured the most important stuff to you.
Now look it over. What do you have in your currrent place? What could you add here? Or do you need to start thinking about a move to bring you more in line with your dreams?
What's the most important thing to you of the changes you want to make? What's the first step towards that? Write that down.
What's the easiest thing? Do it right now if you can or make the arrangements to do it as soon as possible.
Keep your list where you'll keep coming back to it regularly.
Note: the list can change, just like you. That's fine; just keep moving towards what matters.
Today you get to think about the good stuff.
Go for a walk or sit somewhere comfortable. Listen to music you really like or enjoy some silence.
Now, remember the things you really like to do. If you magically had no obligations for three days - no lost opportunities or work piled up when you came back and no expectations of you - how would you spend your time?
What did you love best to do as a kid?
Think back over your whole life and write down what you've loved doing at different ages.
Next, circle the things you still love to do. Keep writing down any new ones you remember.
Tomorrow, we'll start taking a look at how you get to do the good stuff more often, but for now, just daydream about the best of times.
And happy new year!
What would you love to be rid of by New Year's Eve next year?
What is slowing you down or getting in your way? Draw a bullseye on it in your mind and start looking for ways to purge it from your life. What's the first thing you can do to chip away at it or minimize its impact on you? Write that thing down on your planner on the first day where you have a free hour. Do it.
If you did one little act of discardia every day for the next year, how would it change your quality of life?
Want to give it a try?
Subscribe to the feed of this website in your feed reader (Sage, Netvibes, Bloglines, whatever floats your boat) or just visit this page every day and I'll give you one little suggestion of what you might want to do.
We're going to start on New Year's Eve...
- Dinah
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