Sitting here on what is the last Sunday of 2019, considering...
I do tend to consider quite a lot, and I tend to consider even more during that otherwise fairly still period we tend to experience between December 23rd and January 2nd.
Yes, yes, I know, it's by no means "still" for a lot of you, but the particular type of "still" I am referring to here is the still that goes with most people being more aware of family and holidays, as opposed to work, commerce and obligations.
Personally speaking, that particular type of "still" leads me to reflect on the year that was, and the year ahead.
Japanese maple leaves and raindrops...
... is participate in some of the many "end-of-year" challenges, and "2020 plans" challenges currently active in the community.
I often cite that I "just don't have the TIME," because I am too busy with other stuff. Of course, the irony of that is that I am taking the time to create a new blog post to make the statement that I don't have time to make blog posts.
Weird, huh?
"Dichotomy" is my middle name...
I have generally not gone big into "New Years" posts because my Steemit "anniversary" is January 30th, so why double post essentially the same stuff?
But that sort of misses the point because I have actually been blogging for over 20 years, LONG before there was Steemit.
Raindrops on a red leaf...
Yes, I still call it "Steemit," and I really don't have any shits to give to those who insists that we should call it "Steem."
The mess we are dealing with is really more about "internal semantics" than public reality.
Basic REALITY number one: When someone asks me where I have been blogging, I am going to send them a link to STEEMIT dot com, not STEEM dot com.
And guess what? If you look at that little rotator image thingamajig on the right... it actually promotes posting on "STEEMIT!"
Hello, Captain Obvious...
"Yeah, but it's all the Steem Blockchain!"
Sure it is, of course it is!
But the average schmoe you and I are going to talk to at the gym, or the market, or Uncle Bob's party doesn't give a flying flip what a "blockchain" is, they just want to know where they can post their pictures of kittens, bad karaoke and recipes for fruitcake.
And UNTIL we get rid of this smug and self-important "we-have-the-answers-to-the-future-of-social-content-and-its-name-is-Steem" attitude, this place is never going to grow and thrive, because people care about the utility not the underlying tech.
'Nuff said...
But I have digressed...
Leaves, snow and sky....
... is learn to become more specific.
Perhaps one of my most important takeaways from having been in therapy these past 4-5 months is that I am coming to terms with the fact that many of my feelings of listlessness and purposelessness can be traced back to my own sense of vagueness in my approach to life.
In most cases, we OWN the piles of crap we find ourselves sitting in; nobody "did it TO us."
I have lived much of my life by statements like (and I am just pulling an arbitrary example out of thin air, here) "I just want Bob to be successful!"
Maybe that sounds noble and well-meaning enough, but it's an incredibly vague and nebulous statement.
Saying "I want Bob's business to create the income he needs to take care of his family and pay off his debts within three years" is a specific and meaningful objective.
Many of us tend to live in a cloud of vague statements, not so much because we don't know what we want/need, but because actually forcing ourselves to clarify our objectives means we establish a baseline against which to measure our progress, which ALSO means we no longer get to crap out on ourselves because we don't truly "remember" what it was we wanted to accomplish.
Still not following?
Consider "I want to build my SteemPower in 2020!" (vague) vs. "I want to double my SteemPower in 2020!" (specific).
The spines of a cactus...
... is learn to take one step at a time, rather than allow myself to become immobilized every time I consider just how many steps there are to be taken.
That happened to me earlier today — before starting this post — when I started looking at ALL THE THINGS I wanted to get in order before I was even willing to start setting quantitative goals for 2020.
I thought about all the blogs that needed to get updated and facelifted, and all the writing projects I wanted to finish, and all my online stores that need to be updated, and all the house projects in need of doing... and now I feel exhausted just thinking about it all.
As the old truism goes: "The way to eat an elephant, is ONE BITE at a time."
And no — for the benefit of you incredibly literal people — I would never actually eat an elephant... it's a metaphor...
View from our back deck...
... I have a lot of gratitude, because I have already started and implemented an increasing number of specificity practices in my life.
And whatever else I might publish today (or in the next few days), the content will be more specific than I was likely to have made it, even just a year ago.
And I have gratitude for that. Because gratitude matters....
Thanks for reading, and hope you're having a great weekend!
(Another #creativecoin creative non-fiction post)
What are YOUR goals and objectives? Are they specific... or deliberately vague? Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!
(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for this platform.)
Created at 191229 12:58 PST
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