Terrible idea – whoever first decided to make a list of bad habits and life changes certainly did NOT see all of them through.
That’s the point, isn’t it? Make a list, feel better for having made the list, then two weeks later – pretend the list never existed.
I made a list last year. Conveniently, I’ve lost it. Lesson learned there: don’t write anything down on paper that isn’t part of a notebook. Scraps of paper will always go missing.
I do remember some of the points from it:
- Blog more
- Exercise more
- Quit my job at the school
Why do I remember these points? Because I actually completed these three. Woo!
The first one is most interesting to me because I didn’t blog more as a result of making it a New Year’s Resolution.
I purchased this domain, hosting it on more expensive servers than was logical or justifiable. This meant that I had to write blog posts because otherwise I’d see my credit card statement each month and kick myself for wasting that money.
One year later I’m still writing here. In fact my method has refined – I now also use Evernote Premium to clip articles and organise my thoughts as part of the writing process.
Having a private pad on which I could pen thoughts became an important part of my life this year. I wouldn’t say my decision-making has improved much as a result of note taking, but I certainly understand what’s been happening better than before.
That’s the key. Pie frequently writes “I blog for me” – he’s spot on. It’s not about the pageviews. No one reads this blog, but for a year I put the cash and the time into writing for it. I’m proud of everything I’ve written and I feel like I’ve grown.
Today I scaled this hosting package down. But what I’ll take away from the last year’s experience is this:
If I want to make a real difference and a change to my behaviour, I need to find a way to alter my perception of an activity’s value – such as spending a lot of money on it.