Breaking news... the end of the year is coming up. And for those into the bigger picture, the end of the decade. I can't really remember most of the decade all that well, and I blogged through the majority of it anyway, so it'd be easier and maybe more personally productive for me to do a
2009: Year In Review.
For me personally, it was quite the memorable year. I've already classed it as "the worst year of my life" numerous times. I think any year where you can have an occurrence that becomes known as "
The Incident" is going to be a bit different.
But just like anything else, it all fades into background noise and footnotes eventually. The year was unique, somewhat anticlimactic, lacking in some respects, maybe a bit overfilled in others, and topsy turvy all around. But all things considered, I think tangibly I'm not so different as I was at the end of 2008. Experience/maturity/wiseness ways though, I think I'm changed and ultimately better off. And that's all one can really hope for out of a year.
The other day I was told by someone that they wished they had my motivation. But the thing is, I wouldn't class what I have as motivation per se. I'm a goal setter first and foremost. I think it's important to have achievable, measurable targets ahead of you in life. It's what I do, be it day to day, or month to month, or a year in advance. But as far as motivation goes, I don't have any singular particular driving force.
If anything, I just have the same chip-on-my-shoulder I've always sort of had, although it does definitely get more powerful and pressing over time. So I'd chalk most of my "achievements" up to that. Some obsessive-compulsive neurosis helps too.
If there's one tip I have that I use a lot, it's visualization. Not weirdo "close your eyes, picture yourself making this putt" type visualization, but more of a "it'll all be alright" visualization.
Let's say you have to give a big presentation at work. Oh God! Nervousness and the like. What I do beforehand in such a stressful type situation is just think,
"There's going to be a moment 5 minutes after I'm done with this, where it'll be over and I'll ostensibly be the same as I am now." That sort of puts it all in perspective for me.
It even works for other things. Like if you're going on a vacation, beforehand, just think that there's going to be a moment where you're coming back from vacation, driving back up to your house. Try to connect yourself to that future point, and all in between kinda flattens and blurs in the meantime. I don't know, it's my philosophy; keeps my feet on the ground.
How does that relate to my year? Well, I guess I've used that this year to my advantage. It was my first year as a full-time employee with little or no major pressing changes in flux or on the horizon. So my first year of the "next stage" of my life. I think I've evolved to become less worried about perception or possible consequences and more forceful and deliberate over the year. Somewhat due to natural aging and maturation, and then somewhat due to necessity. I've sort of tried to work my life toward a point where my slogan might be
"The question isn't who is going to let me, it's who is going to stop me."At the very least, maybe the troubles, dramas, self-caused problems, whatever else; maybe it made it a bit more interesting. If anything, it definitely made me a bit more interesting.
Post a Comment