I'm resurrecting my 2008 Resolutions. How can that be 5 years ago? Those resolutions were the closest I have come to having a list that I could embrace. I used to keep it by my desk, and I looked at it every day.
Another reason I like this list is that it is not a list so much as a balanced score card--if I made small progress along many fronts, I was going to be exponentially 'better'. Here it is so that I don't yammer on about it without your seeing it:
During reflective moments (generally involving an alcoholic beverage and proximity to the wood stove or a cuddly dog or cat), I've been reviewing and revising the details. Even after 5 years, I see no changes that I would make to the categories themselves. However, renewing my commitment to these goals is something that I'm doing...and nothing is better than renewing commitment than putting in a plan of action to "DO". Rather than re-jigger, classify categories, I want to work on the more granular items (which you cannot see).
One category that you see on there is Time. Most normal people probably do not have a "Time" category. For myself, time is something that I have to grapple with managing. I think that my testy relationship with time is that I require SPACE to think and create and solve problems. And the DO function of deadlines and such create a tension between the two.
My goal of putting time as a classification, is to do a better job of allocating my time. I have many interests, and I have the ability to work and concentrate very deeply on stuff that is important--like problem solving, or working toward a deadline. However, ultimately what we produce has to be a product of both our time and our effort. Not all deadlines can accommodate our best efforts; however, we should always use our best efforts within the time allocated. Absent a time allocation, perfectionism sneaks in. For me, the problem is that I've always let work encroach into my personal life.
Hence the need for balance. And order--which is why I have "Space" on there.
Now, you may look at all of this and think that it is a strange way to go about one's business. Perhaps it is. But the way that my mind is wired, this way makes sense to me, and it helps me succeed with the structure that I need to keep balanced and on track. You see, if you give me a problem to solve (and my career has been centered on that), then my brain will work full time on it until it comes up with an answer. And, I always get the answer...just not on demand. My brain chews away at problems, and only gives me the answer when I find some distance. I call it the worm in my brain. It is an industrious little fellow and seldom lets me down.
Except...it will pursue an answer at all costs to other aspects of my life which is why I have to laughingly have a resolution for 'fun'.
Not everyone's brains functions the same, and the better we recognize our own proclivities to think this way over that, the better chance we have of mastering our mind. As the Buddists monks say, "The mind has no mind of its own".
So I use my mind maps make my life more harmonious and balance.
And "Park" is to place things for the worm to chew on--'someday/maybe' types of things.
I do not have "stick to resolutions" parked there!
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