What Makes It Different This Time…

I’ve gotten to be pretty good at being excited with new ventures. As you can tell from my early blog posts last year. Then there was massive a hiatus. What makes this time any different than the last time? I would love to say that there is something drastically different, but I don’t think there is. I’m going to refrain from making any big audacious proclamations about what I will do.

Last post I did talk about the habits tracker I’ve been using and how it will make all the difference. Part of why it has been helpful is that when I track certain things, I’ve done I can look back and see what I did with my day and not feel frustrated with certain projects that don’t produce immediate results. I know that in time the results will come if I put in the effort. The fact that I can track the effort helps me be relaxed in pursuit of my goals. That could also be the New Year vibes in me talking. Time will tell what happens.

The reason I decided to continue is because I still enjoy doing creative things. My life has become a bit steadier, and it has been easier for me to prioritize certain projects. I’ve come to the realization that regardless of the results that come from this venture, it’s worth the time that I invest into it.

Taking small steps versus big moves. I’ve known for quite a while that small consistent progress is better than big moves in a varied time frames. It’s just taken time to put that into practice. I’m more relaxed knowing that even though I might make one change or do one thing daily, it’s better than doing nothing for a couple weeks and trying to do a bunch all at once.

It’s a different schedule I’m operating on this time as well. I used to force myself to only work on things that I could do every day and berate myself for not accomplishing everything, every day. Now, I’m appreciating the efforts I put in when I can. I’m accepting of the fact that some projects can’t be worked on every day, especially while juggling the multitude of responsibilities that I have.  

I’ve stopped starting over as well. I’ve continued with a few projects. I’ve started enough projects to know how to start them. I am human and loved the instant gratification of getting early wins in a new project. It is part of why I kept jumping from project to project. Get all the easy wins in and out and go to the next one. All to satisfy that dopamine hit.

Now I need to take those projects and develop them and get into more advanced stages with them. I will get less of an immediate satisfaction out of the work but in the long term a much deeper satisfaction. It will help me drastically improve my skills as well. You can only develop them so much when you jump from project to project while always staying at beginner stages. You get to become great and achieve mastery with projects when you take on advanced projects.

I’ve had moments of being super self-conscious in how I am with my skill level comparatively to those around me. I used to be super uncomfortable if I how somehow was more skilled or picked things up quicker than others in what was my limited point of view of the situation. I’ve come to accept that everyone is on their own path. I don’t help anyone by not getting better with my skill set because I feel uncomfortable with my development compared to others. This does not mean I’m an expert in any of the fields or skills I was developing in the past. There are a few skills and projects where yes, I am comfortable with saying I know more than the average person.

I’ve narrowed down and eliminated multiple projects. That saying of “He who chases two rabbits catches none” is a very great saying. I’m more than guilty of it. In this past year I’ve started reducing which projects I take up. Not because I don’t still have interests in a ton of them, but I’ve started cycling which projects I’m focusing my time on.

I used to only get into projects and set my goals ridiculously high. For example: When I got into playing guitar it was to be a legendary musician who joined the rock and roll of fame. To this day: I still can’t play a song on it. Had I started with smaller goals I might’ve made more progress. This time I’m drastically reducing how high I’m setting my goals. That way I stay more focused on making progress versus the results that are associated with those goals. 

Over the years I’ve heard lots about pushing yourself to doing the maximum you can every day. Having that fear of missing out as well was a deadly combination for me trying multiple different projects that resulted in things getting start in a great fashion and burning out quicker than a match. This time I’ve set minimums. It’s less daunting and easier to consistently make progress. I don’t feel as bad that I’ve only say spent fifteen minutes reading or writing but if I’m doing it every day, I’m making a lot more progress.