After reading Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals in 2022, I think I have a clearer understanding of how to achieve my goals.
I need to:
- Make a list of the 25 goals I want to accomplish in life.
- Rank them from 1 to 25.
- Focus on the top 5 goals, and avoid doing the other 20 goals like the plague because those 20 goals are insufficiently important to form the core of my life, yet attractive enough to distract me from the goals that matter the most.
In 2023, I plan to focus on 5 goals. Goals that are wholly within my power to accomplish.
Additionally, this will be the first time that I designed a writing-centric year for myself. Mainly to see if I love writing enough to spend the next ten years of my life living a writing-centric life.
To keep track of my daily happiness as I’m pursuing these goals, I will use Jim Collins’s method of giving each day a score between -2 and +2, and short descriptions of the day. At the end of the year, I will tally the results to better understand how to have +1 and +2 days.
Goal #1 Writing
- Did I devote 1 to 4 hours daily to my book, 5 to 7 days this week? (Per Elizabeth Gilbert)
- Learn 1 new vocabulary daily and post it to my kellywritesdaily Instagram 5 to 7 days this week?
- Read a book for 30 min to 1 hour daily, 5 to 7 days this week?
Goal #1 Completion Percentage For This Week:
Goal #2 Mental Health
- Meditate 4 minutes daily, 4 to 6 days this week? (Sukey Novogratz’s teachings)
- Sing 2 happy or inspirational songs daily, 4 to 6 days this week?
- Go to bed before 11:00 PM nightly, 4 to 6 days this week?
- Read 1 page of Atomic Habits summary daily, 4 to 6 days this week?
- Pick one of the following: a philosophy book, a psychology book, Nedra Glover Tawwab’s teachings, Tara Brach’s teachings, and spent 30 min reading it this week?
Goal #2 Completion Percentage For This Week:
Goal #3 Physical Health
Wendy Suzuki: The brain-changing benefits of exercise | TED
- Yoga for 20 min daily, 4 to 6 days this week?
- Weights for 10 min daily, 4 to 6 days this week?
- Cardio for 15 min daily, 4 to 6 days this week?
Goal #3 Completion Percentage For This Week:
Goal #4 Manage My Binge (Non-Purging Bulimia) Eating Disorder
- Weigh myself at most once daily this week?
- Eat around 300 calories for breakfast, around 500 to 700 calories for lunch, and around 500 calories for dinner daily, 5 to 7 days this week?
- Refrained from commenting on anyone else’s food intake every day this week?
- Eat around 1 lb of veggies daily, 5 to 7 days this week?
- If I binged, did I first try to prevent the binge from happening by following the steps of my pre-binge checklist?
Goal #4 Completion Percentage For This Week:
Goal #5 Emotional Health
- Did I speak in a kind and steady tone of voice every day this week? (Jack Kornfield’s teachings)
- Did I ask myself, “What’s the probability [percentage] of me being certain on this matter?” when faced with opinions I don’t agree with this week? (Annie Duke’s teachings)
- Did I write in my bug book and journal every day this week? (Jim Collins’s teachings)
- Did I record my daily happiness score every day this week? (Jim Collins’s teachings)
- Did I post or comment on subreddits that I seek inspiration from to contribute positively to the discussion daily, 4 to 6 days this week?
- Did I try to be more observant of my surroundings this week? (Ed Thorpe’s teachings)
Goal #5 Completion Percentage For This Week:
Your actions reveal how badly you want something. If you keep saying something is a priority but you never act on it, then you don’t really want it. It’s time to have an honest conversation with yourself. Your actions reveal your true motivations.
James Clear, Atomic Habits
In 2022, I skipped Goal Check Sundays and felt unsteady without it. That’s why I’ve decided to restart in 2023. Keeping track of my actions will help me understand if my actions match my intentions.
