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YouTube Binging; Time Funneling for Goals; Writing
I've taken to watching/listening to a lot of YouTube at work. My tastes range from media analysis videos to weird EAS fiction to Self-Improvement YouTube to wrestling commentary. There are also audio dramas put out by one outfit, but the writing isn't very good.
I tend to gorge topics in streaks, depending on the mood. Right now I'm listening to a lot of cryptid encounter stories, mostly by this dude named Bob Gymlan. I don't believe in Bigfoot necessarily, but he's a very good storyteller and there's something about his calm, precise narration that lifts the letters he gets into something chilling, and compelling. It's clear he does believe in Bigfoot, and he offers commentary on the parts of the story he finds most interesting. I honestly can't say how much anyone believes in any of this, or if any of it is true, but it's really cool to see this kind of folklore being passed around on the Internet now.
All this to say that I found another person in Self-Improvement YT that I like quite a bit. Now that we're in the final two weeks of the year, I've been thinking a lot about how things went this year and what I can do to give myself the best shot at success next year. Folks who Bullet Journal and all that are great for this mood; it's just nice to listen to folks' insights about goal-setting, self-improvement, and marrying intention to action. Even if I don't get anything I can directly use for my life, it gets my train of thought running in that direction.
One YouTuber talked about the way she breaks her goals down into something called a "time funnel", where she takes a look at her goals for life, distills that down into a workable year-long vision, creates projects for each quarter, then tasks for each month, week, and day. Of course, there's time in each period where she reviews and realigns. So before planning her day, say, she'll jump up a level, see what she's set for herself this week, and align her goals towards making progress there. At the end of the week, she'll do the same for the monthly goals, etc.
I think it's a fantastic way of turning an aspiration into a system of action, so I'll definitely be trying this in 2024. Her recommendation is to have one big passion project for the year so that most of your energy is devoted to that, but also come up with 24 other goals to hit. Make sure every goal is measurable and something within your direct sphere of influence -- so a goal to "Post 50 YT videos in 2024" is a good goal, but "Get a million subscribers" is not.
So I'll be workshopping the 24 goals, but I already know what my Passion Project for 2024 is going to be: the Jackalope Serial Company.
I would really like to develop a regular writing practice and this is the best way to do it. I know I'm capable of finishing short stories because I've done it before; and while they haven't exactly been anything to write home about it's nice that they're out there. Working to distill my thoughts into tangible words is a very important endeavor for me, especially since writing is how I make sense of the world in general. Thinking about the things I want to put into the world and carefully, pain-stakingly crafting them feels like the work I was born for.
A lot of my other goals will be related to writing, but also more closely aligning myself with Buddhist principles. My mind is so naturally undisciplined, it's hard to get it to quiet down enough to focus on one thing -- it's constantly looking for the new and distracting, which means it's easier to ignore the stuff you already have, or things you've already done. It doesn't help create an environment of appreciation, or a mindset geared towards respecting what you own and taking good care of it. I'd like to be more mindful of where my energy goes and what takes away from that.
These are all vague thoughts that I'm hoping will come together in time. In the meantime, it's time to start dumping out my to-do list onto paper.
I tend to gorge topics in streaks, depending on the mood. Right now I'm listening to a lot of cryptid encounter stories, mostly by this dude named Bob Gymlan. I don't believe in Bigfoot necessarily, but he's a very good storyteller and there's something about his calm, precise narration that lifts the letters he gets into something chilling, and compelling. It's clear he does believe in Bigfoot, and he offers commentary on the parts of the story he finds most interesting. I honestly can't say how much anyone believes in any of this, or if any of it is true, but it's really cool to see this kind of folklore being passed around on the Internet now.
All this to say that I found another person in Self-Improvement YT that I like quite a bit. Now that we're in the final two weeks of the year, I've been thinking a lot about how things went this year and what I can do to give myself the best shot at success next year. Folks who Bullet Journal and all that are great for this mood; it's just nice to listen to folks' insights about goal-setting, self-improvement, and marrying intention to action. Even if I don't get anything I can directly use for my life, it gets my train of thought running in that direction.
One YouTuber talked about the way she breaks her goals down into something called a "time funnel", where she takes a look at her goals for life, distills that down into a workable year-long vision, creates projects for each quarter, then tasks for each month, week, and day. Of course, there's time in each period where she reviews and realigns. So before planning her day, say, she'll jump up a level, see what she's set for herself this week, and align her goals towards making progress there. At the end of the week, she'll do the same for the monthly goals, etc.
I think it's a fantastic way of turning an aspiration into a system of action, so I'll definitely be trying this in 2024. Her recommendation is to have one big passion project for the year so that most of your energy is devoted to that, but also come up with 24 other goals to hit. Make sure every goal is measurable and something within your direct sphere of influence -- so a goal to "Post 50 YT videos in 2024" is a good goal, but "Get a million subscribers" is not.
So I'll be workshopping the 24 goals, but I already know what my Passion Project for 2024 is going to be: the Jackalope Serial Company.
I would really like to develop a regular writing practice and this is the best way to do it. I know I'm capable of finishing short stories because I've done it before; and while they haven't exactly been anything to write home about it's nice that they're out there. Working to distill my thoughts into tangible words is a very important endeavor for me, especially since writing is how I make sense of the world in general. Thinking about the things I want to put into the world and carefully, pain-stakingly crafting them feels like the work I was born for.
A lot of my other goals will be related to writing, but also more closely aligning myself with Buddhist principles. My mind is so naturally undisciplined, it's hard to get it to quiet down enough to focus on one thing -- it's constantly looking for the new and distracting, which means it's easier to ignore the stuff you already have, or things you've already done. It doesn't help create an environment of appreciation, or a mindset geared towards respecting what you own and taking good care of it. I'd like to be more mindful of where my energy goes and what takes away from that.
These are all vague thoughts that I'm hoping will come together in time. In the meantime, it's time to start dumping out my to-do list onto paper.