 |
This is not a post about new year’s resolutions. Contrary to the last few years, I have decided not to make any new year resolutions. Nobody asked why but I will still clarify. New year resolutions are forgotten as soon as the year is no longer new i.e March for most people and 2nd January for me.
This post is about finding purpose in life. Since I am yet to figure out my purpose or what will add meaning to my life or what the proper way to look for it is, I will elaborate on what I wish to do instead.
By the grace of God, I have all a man needs. I have a loving wife, supportive parents, and a few trustworthy friends. I have enough resources to lead a comfortable life, go to the movies, eat at a nice restaurant, and go on the occasional trip. I am reasonably healthy. As I have already elaborated here, I and Sagnika are expecting our first child in January and we had a pretty smooth pregnancy till now(fingers crossed).
With that being said, I had my share of anxiety, depression, frustration, fights, etc. But all of these have been temporary and inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. I mean nothing with life-altering repercussions.
I have my share of regrets too. Of all the regrets I have, not having a
purpose in life bugs me the most.
My father, whom I am often at loggerheads with while discussing life philosophy, would laugh that off. According to him balancing the good and bad, having a well-paying stable job, and having a healthy life with family is the only purpose of life. I do not judge him for his views. From the stories that I have heard from him I have realized that having a roof over one’s head, food at the table daily, a steady paying job was not so easy to come by during those days. So as far as his purpose of life goes, I would say he has done a good job. As I have had no problems regarding housing, clothing, and food since my childhood, it is my utmost responsibility to do better. By doing better, I don’t mean more money, a bigger house, an expensive car, or grand foreign trips. I would of course love to have these but these are, to me, lower in priority to having a meaningful life.
I have been vehemently searching for meaning for some time now. Something in line with the stories of scientists spending their whole lives solving a single problem, the unyielding perseverance of artists to perfect their craft, the pin pointed focus of writers on carefully choosing the words for his/her current book or the undying dedication of entrepreneurs to provide better value to customers. Don’t get me wrong, it is not my intention to become rich or famous. It would suffice if something I love doing could add some value or a tiny bit of happiness to some people’s lives.
Since I haven’t found what it is I need to do to find meaning, I will instead spend my time being prepared for the moment when I do find it.
Oh, by the way, if it is not clear who the world class procrastinator is, as
mentioned in the title of this post, then I wish to clear it up before
proceeding. It is me. I procrastinate a lot and I am absolutely tired of it. No
more. It is my understanding that to do anything worthwhile one needs to have
discipline. Hence I will write down the things I wish to achieve next year to
become better disciplined both physically and mentally.
Since this has already been a long enough rant, I will set some guidelines for my goals so that I don’t bore you people with goals like I want to be a better human being from now on, a better husband or I will be more kind to the needy etc.
Not that these are unworthy goals but I want my goals for this year to be:
- Measurable: Anything that can be measured can be improved.
- Time Bound: Set timelines for achieving smaller goals that will eventually lead up to the yearly goal. This is needed to keep progress on track.
- Verifiable: This is needed as I want to be accountable to my readers.
Ok, here they are.
All yearly goals have to be finished by 31st December 2021.
Read
I buy a lot of books compared to what I read.
 |
|---|
 |
| Mostly unread |
I was an avid reader during my school days but somehow lost touch later. I want to bring that back and also reading more books will give less time for social media. Win-win.
| Yearly Goal | Read 50 books this year. |
| January Goal | Inferno - Dan Brown |
| Ready Player One - Ernest Cline | |
| How to Win Friends and Influence People - Dale Carnegie | |
| As a Man Thinketh - James Allen | |
| Accountability | Book reviews at the end of the month |
| Announce books for next month at the end of each month |
Run
No one other than my wife will be able to associate me with running because
this is something new. I would have never taken up running if I had not
planned on going for a trek. With me being unable to trek at this moment, no wonder I
am not motivated to go for a run. This has lead to an uneasy situation.
Whenever people see my wife alone, they are able to figure out that she is
pregnant but whenever I am around they seem to think that we are just a fat
couple. Unable to bear the subtle fat-shaming gaze any more, I wish to get back
in shape.
Also, I recently finished reading the book What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Haruki Murakami. As always Murakami did not disappoint. Hence the added motivation to run. This has also lead to an addition to my bucket list, to run the original marathon track from Athens to Marathon one day.
 |
 |
|---|---|
| Running before the Brahmatal Trek | Screenshots from Nike Run Club App |
| Yearly Goal | Run 10 km in less than 1 hr |
| January Goal | Run 3 km in less than 25 mins |
| Accountability | Screenshot from Nike Run Club App at the end of each month |
Meditate
They say that it is not what happens to you but it is how you react to things that happen that truly define your character. Meditation gives me clarity of thought and helps me react better in testing situations. I have tried meditating a few times before and have felt good afterward but was never able to continue for more than 5 days at a stretch. As far as I know, the true effects of meditation start to show when you do it regularly and long term. I hope this leads to me being able to attend and successfully complete a Vipassana training.
 |
|---|
| Finished 12 days till now |
| Yearly Goal | Meditate every day for at least 30 minutes as a non-negotiable task |
| January Goal | Meditate every day for 5 minutes |
| Accountability | Screenshot from Headspace App at the end of each month |
Start a Side Hustle
The pandemic has made it clear that none of us are safe with just our present job, no matter how well we perform. Moreover, nobody enjoys their job 100% of the time. So a side hustle is a potential escape.
Since I have not figured out what to do as my side hustle, I will try out a few things that interest me.
List of potential side hustle candidates
- Photography
- YouTube Channel
- Provide a web service
| Yearly Goal | Find side hustle or try out the above ideas for 3 months each |
| January Goal | Finish till section 6 in this Udemy Photography Course |
| Accountability | Write an article with a summary of learnings |
Write
I have no idea where I want to take this blog but I love sharing my personal experiences with others in the hope to get advice, to entertain, or in the remotest chance to motivate someone one day. So I will try to publish articles in my blog weekly.
| Yearly Goal | Write everyday |
| Publish once a week | |
| January Goal | 4 articles |
| Accountability | Readers, please verify whether I am publishing a new article every Friday |
For the very few of you who are still reading this article, I would like to say
that I am aware that completing all these goals with my first child coming in
would be a daunting task and is not for the faint-hearted. While I was giving
it a very hard thought on whether to commit to these goals publicly at this
juncture in my life, I remembered this saying about excuses.
Excuses are like assholes. Everyone has one, and they are all full of shit.
P.S. Wishing you all a merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous new year ahead.
Do comment on whether you like or hate the content. Do let me know if I should do something else to find my purpose in life. I would be thrilled if someone would like to take up one or more of these goals in their life. Do let me know, would love to share notes and stories.
Comments