My primary objective for 2025

I wrote yesterday about resolutions and how discipline is the difference. At some point you just have to do the work, regardless of the tools, tech, or systems you have in place. If it means you have to do it the hard way, so be it. Just get to work.

I don’t make New Year’s resolutions. However, I always set a New Year’s objective. My objective for 2025 is:

Fun.

This sounds an awful lot like a resolution

For me, the difference between setting resolutions and having an overall objective is the misunderstanding of resolutions. A resolution is another word for goal. Having goals is great, but they don’t mean much without having an objective. Once you set your objective, then you can create goals using the objective as a guiding light. Last, you set a list of tactics to achieve your goals. A long time ago I made a video on this exact topic.

Here’s a real world example. A lot of people put down “be more organized” as a resolution. As I mentioned, resolutions are just goals without an objective, so this is a bad resolution. To me, your objective is “Organize”. Then, your goals could be:

• Create a note system for personal information recall
• Configure bookmarking system for better information retention
• Build system for organizing items in office that I can consistently maintain

Above all those goals you have a guiding light. You have a mission statement. You have a marker on a map. There are dozens of roads that will take you to that spot, but you know where you are going and can use it as a reference to make sure you are heading in the right direction. If you aren’t, then you can stop and fix it.

Another reason to have an objective is you can incorporate it into everything you do. Being organized isn’t just for your digital life or your office. Your objective is to be more organized, so when you plan a vacation, you make sure staying organized is part of the process.

Fun is my objective

Back in September I wrote that I’m bored with all my hobbies. This isn’t a new phenomenon for me. In reality, I haven’t found much of anything fun for the last 5 years or so. It is a common discussion I have with my wife. If I needed to unwind, to do something fun that helps me relax and forget about the stress of life, I can’t tell you what that would be. If you asked me when was the last time I had fun doing something, I can’t tell you a single item other than some small items here and there I laughed at.

This is why I want my guiding light to be finding and having fun.

I am a firm believer in the phrase, “Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.” I will set some specific goals on how I will try to build more fun into my life, which will include even more specific tactics. That is my preparation. I will also look for more ways to put myself into situations where I could have fun. The fun won’t come to me, I have to put myself into situations where I can find it. This means I need to say yes to more things.

- - - - -

Did you like this post? Give it an upvote by clicking on the arrows below! Sending me an upvote is like you and I giving each other a high five.

🙏 😎

If you enjoy the random stuff I write here, post to Mastodon, or watch on YouTube, and are feeling generous, I am open to tips of Ko-fi.