by Damon Payne
5. January 2012 14:16
This year I’m taking a new approach to resolutions. Rather than just make a list of opaque goals, why not try a specialized form of Gap Analysis? Specifically: what are the differences between my life today and my ideal life? These are the things to work on. If you don’t know what your ideal life is it’s hard to make meaningful goals.
I’ve already tackled a couple of my big ones in late 2011, namely regular exercise with the right amount of peer pressure so I can't easily get lazy and skip it.I often think about the various obsessions that occupy my time. You’ve probably heard the saying that no one wishes they’d slept more in college. I imagine, too, that no one looks back at their life and wishes they’d gotten more Xbox live achievements or beaten more of their friends’ high scores in Orcs Must Die. Do I really need to watch the Lord of the Rings trilogy on Blu-Ray yet again, even though it’s so damn good? I find that I can go periods of time focusing only on productive work. Being productive feels great. I love writing code for pleasure. I love fixing clutter around the house: I recently organized the dry goods in my kitchen and it felt like a Holiday Miracle. Still, after perhaps 6 days of productive work, I find I must deflate and find myself still playing Battlefield at 3am or watching zombie films with a glass of cognac.
I try to ask myself a simple question every day: what did I do today that got me any closer to any goal I have?
This could be as simple as not drinking 8 cups of coffee , writing just part of a feature for one of my pet projects, or getting some exercise. I’ve found that I literally have to schedule what I do in my off time every single day of the week or things that are important won’t move forward for months at a time.
I sometimes share my goals here, and sometimes not.
This year is a “not”.
I will say that this year is an intellectual Do or Die moment.
There’s only so long you can daydream and hold resources in reserve for pet projects before it makes sense to ease up and rid yourself of the
psychological stress of things left unfinished.
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