As for many others, the new year and the first weeks of January are a time for reflection, goals setting and aspiring to be a newer, better version of ourselves.
Despite being someone who is very driven by personal growth, I have never really felt the need to partake in this ritual. That is not to say that I have not undertaken many self-improvement activities and those of you looking through my posts of 2024 will know that I spent quite a bit of time habit stacking more things into my routine.
This year however, I thought I would start by writing down some of those activities and things I wanted to achieve. I am including not only my defined goals, but also my rationale and what success looks like.
So here they are:
(1) Consume Less. Create More
Over the past few years I have seen my levels of media consumption (tv, books, online articles) increase. I find myself spending more time staring at a year absorbing other peoples content while not producing any of my own. This year I want to change that, by creating more and at the very least making it feel like I am having more of an impact.
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Spend 30m per week writing weeknotes - While I’ve managed to continue my weeknotes for almost a year now, I’ll admit I’ve not been very good to completing it consistently every week, often writing my scribbles and drafts several weeks later. This year I want to attempt to complete it every week. Moving my posting to a weekend I hope to improve this.
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Spend 30m per week writing/drafting blog content - I mentioned in my 2024 year review that I had only completed 7 posts that year. I think creating more means writing more and blogging more. I want to make sure I am posting at least once a month with something meaningful. I have a backlog of 20 topics, so plenty to keep me going.
- Writing my posts in the evening will mean I also have less time to watch TV and therefore consume less.
- I want to ensure that I share each draft with at least 1 other person before publishing - that will not only improve quality but hopefully have someone start expecting some cadence of this from me and hold me accountable.
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Post on social media at least once every two weeks (blog post or weeknote announcements don’t count) - I need to put myself out there more as a real person. It’s not about me consuming more social media content, but about helping me forge more meaningful connections with a wider community of people.
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Spend 1hr per week doing painting - This one is a new hobby for me that I am experimenting with. Painting, in both watercolours and acrylics as an activity that both provides relaxation and mindfulness while also giving me a new skill.
(2) Connect More
Build upon my existing relationships and increase the times I have opportunities to connect with them. Once I am consistent in this it can lead to expanding my network with others, where the foundation of meaningful connections is strong.
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Make sure to text my friends at least twice a week - This might sound like an odd one for most of you, but for me making sure I consistently connect with friends and don’t let weeks drift past is a real challenge. Making sure I have reminders for myself to do this is really important. It’s a goal for me to ensure that I am more pro-active rather than waiting on my friends to message me and therefore be compensating for me.
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Make sure to connect with mentees at least every two weeks and set the agenda for our monthly session a week in advance - I really love having mentoring relationships both inside and outside of work, but I certainly need to get better with my organisational skills for them and also making sure that I am connecting more with them outside of the usual structure. Some of my best conversations have been triggered by a “saw this, thought of you ..” interaction so I want to increase this.
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Pro-actively schedule time with mentor at least every two months - For the same reason as above, I need to schedule this better but also give myself time to repeatedly reflect on my mentor relationship, what I am providing as well as what I am getting out of it.
(3) Improve Fitness
I am approaching 40 and starting to feel it. Fitness is not gained over night and sustainable routines are not build in a day.
- New exercise routine to focus on improving strength - I will not be a person who goes to the gym in January, gets bored and stops in March. I spent 2024 focusing on increasing my step count (which trigger the purchase on the walking treadmill). In 2025, I want to expand on that to focus on strength training. Targets will update every 3 months as my level of fitness improves.
- Starting point of 15m workout every morning - review after 3 months to expand
(4) Be Consistent
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Track habits to visualise progress and keep motivation - Habits are different from routines. I use todoist to track activities and routines but it’s not really be best for habbits and tracking long-term patterns and success. I need to explore different ways of doing this to give myself both the data and the sort-term rewards (dopamine hit) to keep my habits consistent.
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Define “small rewards” for achieving habits and goals consistently - Much like the rewards systems we use for children, having a wish list of purchases, activities or even basic things like food treats is likely to be enough to sustain consistent habits. Using delayed gratification will hopefully mean I keep going to achieve my goals.
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Write down my goals and habits while linking them to my purpose/why - If the habit tracking app provides short-term motivation and the small rewards provides medium-term motivation then being able to write down why I am doing all of this will be the think that sustains me over the long term. Goals should be things that changes to lifestyle or fostering long-term change. Connecting them to a purpose beyond the motivation tricks will ensure they are cemented as a consistent part of my life.
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Sharing progress in public - I have mentioned a few times here that having an accountability buddy is something well know for ensure habits, goals and behaviors stick. My sharing my progress in public (here and on social media) the plan is that you all act as my accountability buddy. So thanks :)
By posting here you will all be acting as my accountability buddy and that at a few points in the year I’ll be able to reflect upon my progress. Hopefully, you’ll also find some of these useful and that maybe it inspires you to do something similar.