The creative 2020s - Not another new year's resolution
Every year, at its start, people tend to make resolutions for all the things they want to accomplish in life and turn them into “New Year Resolutions”. I’m not a big fan of this approach for a number of reasons. Mainly because I fail to keep up with all the things I aspire to achieve. But, I’m not the only one who is unable to keep up with his promises when we get further deep into a year.
We end up making resolutions that are hard to keep up within the space of 12 months, and after we hit a couple of hurdles in the first few months, we end up forgetting the promises we gave ourselves. On average, halfway through the year, 50% of us quit our new year’s resolutions. This varies per resolution with smoking, drinking and healthy eating being quit by 50% in February (source).
The reason is simple. We tend to set goals we want to accomplish based on our past and where we want to go next, life-long dreams we never got our heads around how to achieve them so far, and life milestones that will change our lives for the better.
We need a better plan to keep our promises. We need to set goals for the long run.
The plan
Instead of setting unachievable goals for a year, I like to step back and see where I want to be in 4, 5, 10 years from now. Once I lock down where I want to be in 2030, it’s easier to map out what I need to do in order to get there. I ask myself “What can I do that will help me take a small step towards my end goal?”. Setting smaller milestones means I’m more likely to hit my target and less prone to quit if I hit a wall or two in the process.
Unlike more than 10 years ago, when I made a list of 30 things to do before I turn 30, this time I won’t list the things I want to accomplish, because let’s face it, I don’t want to look back and feel once again sorry for my younger self.
Instead, I’m aiming for less tangible and more aspirational goals. I want to be more creative, less reliable on my day-to-day tasks, to net a successful milestone professionally outside of my main career, and to be an active member of my community by giving back.
The checklist
However, I’m a fairly organized person that gets motivated by a to-do list. So, if you want to check in on me, here’s what I have in mind for 2020:
Raise money for a charitable organization;
Produce 20 short videos and write a short feature film;
Attend 2 photo walks;
Sign up for a film class;
Volunteer at a local charitable event;
Reduce my carbon footprint by 15%.
All fairly straight forward and nothing too fancy, right? Maybe things I should have done years ago. Nothing that will change my life drastically or make me more creative than I already am. But, I’m confident that smaller steps will eventually get me to where I want to be.
Here’s to a more creative and productive decade!! Let me know what your goals for the next decade are in the comments!
Till next time…
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