For the last couple of years, I haven't had goals, only endless aspirations. Simultaneously, I just live in the present, going wherever life leads me. Though, in the process, I experimented with many habits that eventually helped me improve my life. I came to the conclusion that life itself is an experimental field. Viewing life that way enables me to have a dynamic life with good sized experiences. From the last couple of months, I’ve talked to friends and they were all telling me the same thing, their life goals. They inspire me so much that I even went through all the things I wrote back in 2015; some of them came true, some didn’t. From those lists, I evaluated things that I didn’t know, things that I wasn’t really understanding, The SMART approach. Although I heard that word being thrown around, I wasn’t really understanding the how-to and the essence of it , why having SMART goals could possibly be better than not having SMART goals. Then another one is that pertaining to goal secrecy. There is even research dedicated to proving that it was a bad idea. The experimenters found that the students whose intentions were known tended to act less on their intentions than those whose intentions were unknown..That study was also against the common notion that sharing goals means accountability. I’d like to think otherwise. I think writing down goals, making it public puts a bit of pressure on me to work towards it. I know, perhaps your style is different but it’s what I found to be working. When I stumbled or not achieved it, at least I know that I tried. So, this is me, writing down my goals for this December.

Applying S.M.A.R.T Approach

I recently stumbled upon a great blog that listed things about what happens when we don’t have Goals. I resonate with one of them that includes repeating the past and overthinking. As I find myself just walking down memory lane quite a lot lately, I thought to give myself a bit of distraction from it. Coupled with what I recently heard from friends and everyone around me, it was convincing enough that it’s time. So basically, people said that we must have SMART goals. SMART is a mnemonic acronym Specific Measurable AssignableRealistic Time-related. This December I have 5 goals that I decided to work on. They are also a bit dire and something I have been wanting to finish. They include my skill development, personal self-care, creativity, learning and also my fitness journey.

• Reading 2 books
• Replacing my laptop
• 1k creative writing a day
• Limit Fried Food and Carbohydrates
• Finishing my python course

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Reading 2 Books in a month

2 books are a piece of cake to me. I can finish reading them in a day if I want to. However, I want to savor the joy of reading and not reading excessively. As I also believe that anything excessive is bad. Two books is a reasonable number and I already have a book by Dean Koontz and letters from stoic that I will finish.

Replacing my laptop

I have been saving up to get a replacement and this month, I think I can finally round the numbers I have to get the laptop that I wanted. I essentially need anywhere around 8GB Ram and anything good for editing since I’ve been into videography, photography and just want to get my work done faster than the current one I have. My laptop has been annoying too that I have to forcefully shut it down just because it’s frozen and oh, don’t get me started on the keyboard. It’s really time for an upgrade.

Finishing my python course

I recently took up an online python course and also learned from books. I can understand some basic things and have tried Python SQL as well. However, I’d like to get the certificate just because I'd have more proof and it’s nice to know that I am able to follow something through instead of just learning it here and there.

Creative Writing

I have plenty of unpublished work that needs to be fixed. I also think that lately my creative writing skill is a bit rusty. There’s one story that I really wanted to expand, it was a short story that I wrote for my class titled “ Exposed”. The story is set somewhere in 2050 in major hubs like Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hongkong, Dubai, Paris, and New york. I have been to two places that actually inspired me to write the setting of the place. Who knows, maybe I could visit more of the rest so that I can have a more vivid description of the places. But here’s the excerpt;

“ She stood on the balcony and wafted the cigarette through the air. The contrast between the towers, skyscrapers and the last village of natives were apparent. It was a world apart and soon, they might be gone, replaced by another row of glass-walled buildings. Her eyes glanced down to a white decaying house just across a busy avenue separating the natives and the 50-storey apartment and the financial district where money never sleeps.Then, the voice from the past came again, “ We must leave Remy, we are not safe here”.”

Limiting Fried Foods and Carbs

I recently read about a guy on hive with nice abs. His workout was pretty doable but I asked him what his diet was. He mentioned he doesn’t eat fried foods. I mean, it's a pretty reasonable thing to do and so far, I have been eating way too much fried food. I just simply can’t resist good chips and things that are fried and savory. However, instead of completely eliminating them, I am trying to limit them. Same thing with carbs including rice, as I think rice isn’t evil at all. It’s the problem of not having them in moderation.

So, those are my goals for December, do you have any goals to achieve by December?