Learning to avoid fleeting ideas (or just put them on the shelf so I can focus)
I have a problem that I think a lot of people do. Get excited about the idea of doing something, but not actually following through to the goal... and sometimes not even starting the idea. I've had plenty of ideas that I've not really followed through on, like:
Properly learning how to play trombone
Sticking with violin lessons past 3 months
Practicing guitar for more than two months consecutively
Consistently writing in a personal finance blog (I tried this one twice!)
Learning more than the basics about my new camera... that I bought in December 2015
Finishing all the levels on Super Mario 64
Painting regularly, though I did paint regularly with my friends in college
There are ideas that I never got off the ground, like:
Starting a piano vlog
Starting a blog about technical stock analysis
Starting a blog about music composition
Writing a book
Writing a symphony
Last night, I watched a few YouTube videos from Matt D'Avella, WheezyWaiter and NateObrien. It made me realize that their 30 day challenges results were distilled into 15 - 30 minute videos instead of daily blogs, and I wondered if that was a better way to get the information about my challenges to other people.
Then I remembered that I know almost nothing about videography, absolutely nothing about video editing and kind of having a face for radio, I probably would be facing quite the uphill battle without even having the challenges! Instead of deciding I'll just start shooting video from my DSLR or Galaxy Note phone, I'll just wait. I don't have a lot of experience with challenges yet, and I'm not ready to have myself out in public via video. I don't even have a huge goal for this daily blog, except for writing every day, and wanting to create enough content by doing interesting things, so I can write about them.
Speaking of doing interesting things, today I'll be continuing my No Added Sugar diet, but I'm realizing that I might not be eating enough food. I think I'll increase my calorie range from 1200 - 1450 to 1400 - 1650. I'm hitting roughly 1300 calories the first few days, but I'm losing about a pound a day and end up very hungry in the morning at work, and sometimes when I wake up in the middle of the night. The diet that I'm doing isn't supposed to be about weight loss, but about not having any added sugar. A few ways I can combat this is by making sure I have a larger lunch, having a no added sugar easily available mid-morning snack at work, or making vegetable and fruit smoothies, but that sounds like a lot more work than just boiling a dozen eggs to take to work.
I'm finally learning to stop and think before launching into huge projects without considering the time and effort required. Even though I randomly started this blog up again a few months ago with the possibly ridiculous goal of daily writing without a clear plan or end date, I knew that I can write, and had experience writing a daily blog before, though it clearly isn't as good as what I write now. I also haven't told many people that this exists, which also helps. Just the right people that give me honest feedback. My expectation for this blog is that at the end of this year and several months of challenges, I'll have a better idea of what I want to focus on, and write more about that. I also hope to be better at some skills or hobbies, so I'll feel more comfortable in giving advice, even if the evidence is anecdotal. I don't know yet if I'll want to write daily, but most people focusing on a hobby or small set of hobbies along with a relevant blog do not write daily, because it takes too long to prepare, test, write and edit for a concept.
Right now, though, I'll just keep plugging along with my challenges and daily writing.
Properly learning how to play trombone
Sticking with violin lessons past 3 months
Practicing guitar for more than two months consecutively
Consistently writing in a personal finance blog (I tried this one twice!)
Learning more than the basics about my new camera... that I bought in December 2015
Finishing all the levels on Super Mario 64
Painting regularly, though I did paint regularly with my friends in college
There are ideas that I never got off the ground, like:
Starting a piano vlog
Starting a blog about technical stock analysis
Starting a blog about music composition
Writing a book
Writing a symphony
Last night, I watched a few YouTube videos from Matt D'Avella, WheezyWaiter and NateObrien. It made me realize that their 30 day challenges results were distilled into 15 - 30 minute videos instead of daily blogs, and I wondered if that was a better way to get the information about my challenges to other people.
Then I remembered that I know almost nothing about videography, absolutely nothing about video editing and kind of having a face for radio, I probably would be facing quite the uphill battle without even having the challenges! Instead of deciding I'll just start shooting video from my DSLR or Galaxy Note phone, I'll just wait. I don't have a lot of experience with challenges yet, and I'm not ready to have myself out in public via video. I don't even have a huge goal for this daily blog, except for writing every day, and wanting to create enough content by doing interesting things, so I can write about them.
Speaking of doing interesting things, today I'll be continuing my No Added Sugar diet, but I'm realizing that I might not be eating enough food. I think I'll increase my calorie range from 1200 - 1450 to 1400 - 1650. I'm hitting roughly 1300 calories the first few days, but I'm losing about a pound a day and end up very hungry in the morning at work, and sometimes when I wake up in the middle of the night. The diet that I'm doing isn't supposed to be about weight loss, but about not having any added sugar. A few ways I can combat this is by making sure I have a larger lunch, having a no added sugar easily available mid-morning snack at work, or making vegetable and fruit smoothies, but that sounds like a lot more work than just boiling a dozen eggs to take to work.
I'm finally learning to stop and think before launching into huge projects without considering the time and effort required. Even though I randomly started this blog up again a few months ago with the possibly ridiculous goal of daily writing without a clear plan or end date, I knew that I can write, and had experience writing a daily blog before, though it clearly isn't as good as what I write now. I also haven't told many people that this exists, which also helps. Just the right people that give me honest feedback. My expectation for this blog is that at the end of this year and several months of challenges, I'll have a better idea of what I want to focus on, and write more about that. I also hope to be better at some skills or hobbies, so I'll feel more comfortable in giving advice, even if the evidence is anecdotal. I don't know yet if I'll want to write daily, but most people focusing on a hobby or small set of hobbies along with a relevant blog do not write daily, because it takes too long to prepare, test, write and edit for a concept.
Right now, though, I'll just keep plugging along with my challenges and daily writing.
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