TAMPA, Fla. (JUSTSARA) — Setting abstract goals can actually have the opposite of it’s intended effect. If your goals are not strong in vision or if they don’t have a specific outcome in mind they won’t be effective. You’ll be swimming in the dark without any idea where you’re going. Drowning is likely.
Another pitfall is having too many goals. You must be able to tell the difference between a goal that is going to get you where you want to be and a goal that is simply something you want.
The following is an exercise I did to help me filter out goals that aren’t necessary and hone in on the essential ones. It’s an outline of what I want my days to look like in the future. Where I really would like to be and what I’d like to be doing. I’ll then use this narrative to find the goals that align with it and move focus away from any unnecessary goals.
My Perfect Day
Starts early. I rise before the sun. Outside I sit with the quiet, with the air, with the trees. I sit and meditate as the sun awakens. Afterwards, I head inside, no phone, no distractions. I make myself coffee and pick up a book or magazine or newspaper. I sit in bed, while the love of my life snores beside me. We have the slowest of mornings, every morning. No phones, no distractions from life’s gestation. Slowly he wakes up. I put my book down and hold him until we are both ready to face the day. I sit by the window while he makes his coffee, maybe he makes me a second cup. The sun has risen, its rays burst through an open window. Maybe we eat breakfast together maybe we start to get ready. It’s a weekday which means we have to work. But, we don’t work for anyone else. We both work for ourselves. After our slow morning we clock into our respective offices. His for writing and creating music and mine for writing words on a page or creating visions for the screen. We have no set hours and when I want a break I simple walk to the other side of the house to be with him. We are totally and completely free.
When I think about the things I’m creating I am drawn in many different directions. Consistently, I think of writing. I think of stories. But, I also very often think visually. I think of movies, films and photography. Most importantly I want to show others what the world looks like from my eyes. I want the people who see the things I made to also see me, to see through me and feel things like I feel them. I am less interested in the medium and more interested in the effect.
Moving on, our day is set by ourselves. We aren’t lazy because we built this life through hard work and dedication. We don’t take it for granted and we keep creating. I’ve written many books, I’ve made films and I still do photography for fun. I run a blog that I post in every week and I make videos online. Not hollow vapid ‘content’ but things that document my journey, things that inspire me and inspire others and little stories I want to tell quickly. It’s all art to me. I want the other half of my day dedicated to learning. I want to not only create art but also create change. Reading and writing about the world, about current events and about movements that are important to me.
In the afternoon we focus on our bodies. We go to the gym, I do yoga, I stretch and I run.
By evening we are still free. Despite working we feel refreshed. We cook dinner and share in the slow gestation of life. No phone, no distractions.
Finding the Goals
Here are the goals (the products) I found to be the most necessary to building this kind of life.
- Publish Books
- Have an active blog
- Make Films
- Take Photos
- Make other see through my eyes
- Live a slow life
- Live as a witch/magician
- Maintain a Beautiful Home
- Be Healthy
Habits and Personality Traits
The following are changes I need to make to my life to meet these goals. I won’t be implementing these all at once but slowly over the course of a few months. This is where the real work is done. The personality traits are unique because these are things I want to fundamentally change about myself. It is very possible to force personality changes and sometimes I think it’s necessary. If you want to be the type of person who doesn’t give up or the type of person that keep a clean house, then don’t just try to clean every single day. Instead, tell yourself that you are a tidy person, you have dirt and those habits will form naturally out of that personality change.
Personality Traits
- Hard worker
- Dedicated
- Focused
- Emotionally Balanced
- Clean/Tidy
- Opportunity Taker/Taking Without Permission (I call this acting like a man, don’t sit by, taking opportunities means quite literally seeing something that could potentially be an opportunity and taking it without asking for permission.) this is the one I think will have the biggest impact on me
- Unbothered (this means not worrying about what anyone else thinks, not worrying about if something is financially sustainable or if it will make me money.)
Habits
- Journaling
- Writing
- Reading
- Cleaning
- Mindfulness/Daily Affirmations
- Phone and distraction aversion
- Regular Exercise
- Nature Walking
- Meditation
- Magical Practice
- Polishing
- Publishing
- Being Uncomfortable (find an opportunity every single day to push myself out of my comfort zone, talk to someone I don’t normally talk to, post something vulnerable, do something in public I would normally be embarrassed to do. Get used to being bothered.)
- Being Confident
From here I’ll incorporate two or three of these every single week until I’m able to maintain the mindset I want. It’s not easy but it shouldn’t be. There will never be a good time to start. The best time will always be right now. No matter your circumstances, things will be hard. You won’t be able to afford it. You won’t be in the right headspace. Someone is going to break your heart, you’re going to feel defeated. There will always be something awful happening in the world. Those things will never stop and you won’t ever be able to walk peacefully down the path towards your dreams. You’ll face monsters, brick walls, and immovable mountains. People will push you down, life will force you to the ground. This time in my life right now is the worst, most stressful time I have ever experienced, its no excuse. These things have to be done sooner rather than later if I want to make my dreams reality. The stuff that’s going to pull me out of these hard times are these goals. These hard times are hard because I haven’t yet reached my goals. The sooner I can work towards that perfect day, the sooner I’ll get there.
