Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash
Hi,
My name is Sabana Grande and I had a few goals from last year I wanted to tell you about. You know… New Year’s resolutions. From more than 10 months ago.
Why didn’t I do them? “Life,” is my usual excuse. But not this time. This time, I’m grabbing life by the horns. Yes, I did procrastinate and I did “re-organize my priorities” many times which resulted in me putting off and then not doing certain things I promised myself I would do last year. How many of you are in the same boat?
It’s a bitch. “It’s too late now to finish those things,” we think to ourselves. Or at least I do. I honestly hope that all of you are really happy about what you’ve accomplished in the past year. Now, for the stuff that we didn’t get around to…
1. My BOOK Needs To Be Started… And Finished
That’s what I promised myself last year. I haven’t touched it. My metaphorical typewriter has been gathering dust in that respect. I’ll write something else because I’m afraid of committing my big ideas — the ideas that I would be hurt if other people didn’t like — down on paper.
I lied to myself. I admit. More than I lied to other people. I “re-prioritized” more times than I can remember. No, Sabana, your relationships are more important. No, Sabana, you need to do more research. You need to experience more things before you write about it. Everything’s a perfect excuse as long as you believe in it. “The Power of Rationalization Thinking” — if you think enough rationalizing thoughts, nothing will be accomplished, but you’ll feel okay about it. Isn’t that what positivity is about?
Well, I’ve got 2 more months. This one’s staying on THIS year’s to-do list.
2. Get FIT
I have been working on my ‘writer’s body’ for quite a while now. It’s coming along great. This past year I have failed to reverse that process. Nobody starts dieting before the holidays, right? I will. I’ve done it before. In my teen years, I took to bodybuilding. I ran around with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s ‘The New Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding’ like it was my bible.
I kid you not, I weighed my turkey breast on a kitchen scales much to the chagrin of my family and ate boiled brown rice with it. This was on Christmas Day. “No honeyed ham for me, thank you,” I said while visibly drooling. I actually lost about 22 pounds or 10kg in a few months. I looked like Sméagol from Lord of the Rings.
Granted, my dieting process was not the best. I ran around doing calisthenics maniacally and ate nothing but leaves all day for the most part. I’ve learned my lesson. However, I do know that I can diet when I want to. After I put on some muscle I stayed in shape for years afterward. However, this was still years ago…
I need to go back to work. I realize that my journey during the holidays will be a lonely one. I don’t expect anyone to follow down this path. The Holidays are about eating, or is it giving? I forget.
3. Learn to use FRUITYLOOPS
“Technology is the devil,” my grandad once said. I’m inclined to agree. Just kidding. But I do find that dragging palatable noises out of the FruityLoops software is about as easy as an exorcism.
The tutorials for this software are great — it’s a digital audio workstation by the way. Some tutorials are shown with no pointer on the screen. “Here’s what you click on.” Something randomly opens up on screen WHICH YOU CAN’T SEE BECAUSE THERE’S NO POINTER. Most tutorials start with “here’s stuff I’ve already made and I’ll show you how to use it.”
This is why I drink. Again, just kidding. I really barely touch the stuff unless forced to.
I’m proud to announce I’ve constructed my first palatable noise on FruityLoops today. It took me 4 hours. It sounds like a kid rubbing his face on a piano keyboard. Look, it’s palatable if you’re far away.
I’m not going to learn FruityLoops next year. There will be no discernable ‘new me’. I think we all realize this.
I’m going to learn FruityLoops NOW. And if it takes me up until a few months into next year to really get the hang of it, so be it!
I don’t mean to patronize you.
I’m nobody’s guru. I make many, many mistakes. Probably more than most people. I thought back to all the times I’ve set goals for myself and given up on them because of this construct of “Year.” If it can’t be finished in this block of time, it had better not be started. That’s why New Year’s Resolutions are so popular.
This is to serve as a reminder for myself and anybody else that you have 2 months to finish or to at LEAST start the things you promised yourself last year. Don’t wait until it’s New Year’s! You’ve got time now. What is it you haven’t finished? Let’s start next year, 2 months from now, with some MOMENTUM. Have a leg up on your competition.
Here’s an extra reminder:
Karen Madej Joe Luca Paul Myers MBA Dipti Pande Kevin Buddaeus Dr Ron Pol Dr Mehmet Yildiz John Ross Steve Alexander🏳️🌈🇺🇸 René Junge Kate Maxwell Arthur G. Hernandez Tree Langdon Dr John Rose Bill Abbate Michael Patanella Aurora Eliam, CMP Dr Michael Heng B. A. Cumberlidge. Brian E. Wish, PhD Ahmed Jamal Geetika Sethi Payal Koul Britni Pepper Earnest Painter Selma Dew Langrial Lanu Pitan Lynn Dorman, Ph.D.; J.D. Agnes Laurens Sumera Rizwan EP McKnight, MEd CR Mandler MAT The Maverick Files Liam Ireland Tony Young, Jr. Neha Sandhir S Desiree Driesenaar Stuart Englander Ntathu Allen Thewriteyard Haimish Mead Amy Marley Marla Bishop Darrin Atkins Roz Warren Kim Jagwe Sikder Diamond
Finish what you promised.
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New Year’s Goals: FROM Last Year was originally published in ILLUMINATION on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
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