Maybe instead of making new year resolutions, we should make a list of the things that prevent us from getting things done. Remove the obstacles. Take your current resolutions, and transform them into a new list of “don’t do this, don’t do that.”
I’ll take my 12 resolutions for 2020 and transform them using the “don’t do this” lens.
Original resolution:
Blog more
Updated:
When I get an idea, stop tweeting the idea right away. Instead, open up a text program and start typing out the idea. Nearly every time I do this, I wind up with about 300 words, which is good for a blog post.
Original resolution:
Change the themes on my blogs
Updated:
Stop allowing myself to run themes that are seven years old.
Original resolution:
Make more art
Updated:
Stop planning the art. Instead, make the art.
Original resolution:
Use pencils more
Updated:
Stop reading articles on my phone. Instead read articles on paper, and have a pencil at hand to underline and jot down reactions.
Original resolutions:
Go to the gym once a month
Go to the Art Institute once a week
Updated:
Stop procrastinating at work. I often skip through lunch, because I procrastinated at work, so I feel like I should work through lunch.
Original resolution:
Don’t fall asleep on the Metra
Updated:
Hey! Here’s a “stop” item already as a resolution. If I really wanted to list the obstacle to this one, it would be stop going to bed so late at night.
There are five items that I couldn’t translate into a “stop this”
- Keep a daily diary
- Machine learning
- Use all caps MORE (UMMM, STOP TYPING IN LOWER CASE?)
- Learn how to write “joy of living” in hindi
- Every month draw a map of the world from memory
This post was inspired by a tweet from @wendyalas
Her idea is a bit different than my take. Wendy is coming more from the focus of listing the mistakes you make as the starting point. (I’m assuming). Not necessarily transforming your current resolution list.
But maybe our resolutions do somewhat start with correcting mistakes. Correcting these mistakes allows us to live our lives more richly. (ew, richly? I don’t mean it that way. Maybe “deeply”?)
I love how I achieved two of my resolutions with this updated list:
1) Use pencils more
2) Use ALL CAPS more
Didn’t I also see the Hindi for “Joy of Living” around here? I just Googled it 🙂 Using pencils is a lot more fun when you’re part of a community (14th floor pencil sharpener club). I have lived in #1203 for almost 15 years and have never installed my pencil sharpener. I might even be hard-pressed to find a pencil at home 🙁
Tom, what’s in your pen cup these days?
Some of the ideas behind the WOOP concept remind me of some tangential sounding philosophy and framing that Matt Maldre wrote about in his recent posts about New Year’s resolutions.
(originally posted at https://boffosocko.com/2020/01/29/episode-7-dont-accentuate-the-positive-the-happiness-lab/)