Hey! How’s it going?
Happy New Year! I mean I know it’s been 11 days by now, but just because the calendar flipped doesn’t mean my procrastination habits suddenly disappeared.
I did feel a motivation boost for the first 4 days of the year (which were, coincidentally, mostly weekends). And I didn’t even have any resolutions or goals that I wanted to follow through on. I just felt motivated. If I had the same level of energy and determination for a whole year that I had on that first Monday, I’d probably get more done in a month than I did in the entirety of 2020. But that wave passed, and the only good thing that happened was that I noticed in time and tried my best to avoid the “crash” of motivation withdrawal.
I mostly succeeded.
Here are a few good things that happened to/around me in 2021:
Yearly Theme
I know better than to set resolutions, so I chose a yearly theme instead.
This year is the “Year of Craft”.
I think I’ve spent enough time focusing on accomplishments to realise that what I value much more is “skills”. So, I’m taking a year away from SMART goals and resolutions to focus on learning new skills and honing my craft. I’ve chosen to focus on improving something I can already do (writing) and working on developing something new (music writing/production skills).
Thinking Long Term
Maybe it’s being stuck at home for 9 months, maybe it’s being 27, maybe it’s all the self-help books I’ve read clicking into place all at once, but I’ve finally been able to break out of my short-term anxieties and think, “OMG, what am I doing with my life?!” But in a positive way.
It’s a calm thought loop that’s propelled by the things I feel I can accomplish in the next 10 years, not regrets over a lack of accomplishments in the past 10 years.
I think this has a lot to do with who I’m following online lately, which is mostly people that are 5-10 years older than me. Shifting my focus from the 30-before-30 people and the Dazed 100 people definitely helped me start thinking long-term.
I’m also slightly more okay with accepting that I’m washed.
Slowing Down
Another thing that contributed to the “slowing down” of my thoughts is that I got an awesome Christmas gift: a V60 set for making coffee in the morning. I’m now that guy, and I love it.
Anime & Manga
I’ve gotten into anime and manga. My main inroad was Open Mike Eagle’s new album Anime, Trauma, and Divorce and the fact that I got through Neon Genesis Evangelion[note]which was confusing AF, but I liked it a lot[/note] at some point last year.
Things I’m watching/reading now:
– Dorohedoro
– JoJo’s Bizarre Adventures
– Cowboy Bebop
– Rebuild Evangelion
Vaccines
I now know it’s coming and that gives me hope + something to look forward to.
Games
I tried playing Cyberpunk 2077 and realised that turns out I’m actually into RPGs. So, now I’m on a Witcher 3 play through, finishing up Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and planning to play Divinity II once I’m done with those.
Movies
I’ve watched two movies so far: Klaus and Soul. I loved both of them and I hope that I can keep choosing movies that will hit that 8/10-10/10 sweet spot for the rest of the year.
How have you been?