What I'd Like to Do for 2023

It starts with setting expectations low

I’m not a fan of resolutions. They feel too forced. Not to mention the extreme disappointment in myself halfway through the year when I realize I’m nowhere close to achieving one of them.

I either plan too much or too little and always come up short. Sometimes I blame my wavering levels of interest and impulsiveness on abandoning and restarting projects. I also forget what I write down because my plan and current direction don’t align.

It’s an endless cycle of feeling behind in life while dissatisfaction bubbles at the surface. Not this time.

I decided to set expectations for the new year low. To allow for moveability.

Consistency is one area I relentlessly struggle in. I can have all the excitement in the world to do something, only to feel burnt out weeks or months later because I set the bar too high. My heart runs away with my mind, overestimating my ability to stick with a project.

Like with this newsletter, I quit a couple of times because the schedule became hard to keep up with. I cut down from posting twice a week to only once, and (knock on wood) it’s been working. It’s a frequency I can manage, and I find happiness in writing for it every week. To me, that’s more important than publishing constantly.

That’s where I want my focus for the new year—on small yet impactful goals. Along with nurturing Moonflwr, I want to follow Ray Bradbury’s advice of reading one essay, poem, and short story for a thousand nights to never run out of ideas. I’m not aiming for that number but rather making it part of my nightly routine (I use this word loosely).

Another is to use our little floor elliptical (whatever it’s called; it’s a Cubii) for half an hour to an hour. Again, it’s not much but sounds manageable.

I don’t immediately have a theme for 2023, but one word that comes to mind is balance. I want to stay true to myself while achieving growth, not overexert because I’m trying to keep up with everyone else. I won’t be running marathons or moving to a remote forest, but I will work toward my aspirations in small, attainable doses.

I will balance work with play. I will make consistency a priority. I will reevaluate when something doesn’t feel right, or my interest starts to wane. I will rest, not stop. I will pivot, not quit.

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What are your plans for the new year? Comment below!

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My aspirations list for 2023