This time of year, everyone is talking about New Year resolutions and goals. It’s all about the “fresh start.” However, this year I’ve done something a little different. I’m not setting resolutions for this year — at least not when it comes to my personal life or my personal finances.
One of the reasons I’m holding off on new goals right now is because I want to evaluate my life. I rejiggered my life and my finances after my divorce last summer, and the first thing I did in 2016 was create a life map. Now, I’m using that life map to guide me in a year of exploration.
Exploring Your Life and Purpose
In the past, I’ve been dissatisfied with the way I’ve used my time. Sometimes I feel like I work too much. Other times, I wonder where the time has gone, only to realize I’ve been aimlessly surfing the web for hours. There are even times I get to the end of the week and wonder what’s going on with my son. Why haven’t I talked to him much?
Tracking my time use is a good way to see how I spend the minutes and hours that make up days and weeks. However, tracking my time doesn’t really tell the whole story unless I use that information to reflect on what I’ve been doing. Which activities bring me satisfaction? And which activities just numb me? And which activities are actually keeping from doing things that bring satisfaction?
Understanding these things and learning how to change the way I fill my hours are the keys to living a more fulfilling life. I’m doing more than just seeing what I’ve done in the past; I’m evaluating how it made me feel, and whether I want to make such things priorities.
Next, I’m deciding what I should make priorities in my life. I’m exploring my life and my purpose this year. That’s why I don’t want to make goals right now. Setting resolutions makes no sense if I’m doing it just to do it. Instead, I want to get an idea of what would make my life meaningful and pursue those activities and ideas.
You can do that, too. If you are stuck in a rut, there’s no need to make a bunch of meaningless goals to try and pull you out of your funk. Instead, take a step back and explore your life. What have you been doing? What works? What doesn’t? What do you wish you could do differently? Really dig in there and see what makes you tick. Once you have a better idea of what fulfills you, and what you want your purpose to be, you can figure out what course corrections and goals will help you get to where you want to be. Making resolutions without a clear idea of how they will impact your life and change your course doesn’t help anyone.
That’s why I’m making this year one of exploration. I want to clarify what makes me tick and my purpose. Once I know that, I’ll be ready to set newer, more meaningful goals.
