Blog Short #216: 2 Unconventional New Year’s Goals (Not the Same Old Same Old)
Photo by Cn0ra, Courtesy of iStock Photo
Instead of making a list of goals with specific outcomes to start the New Year, you might be better off trying an alternative approach to get what you want without the angst and urgency that fades out early in the game.
I’m proposing two unconventional goals. Anti-goals, to be exact.
Typical Goals
Here’s a typical New Year’s goal:
Start a diet and exercise regime to fit into a size two by summer and attract someone you’ve had your eye on.
And another one:
Create an online course, launch it, make $25K, and get the attention of influencers in your field.
There’s nothing wrong with these goals in theory. It’s okay to create a goal to get something you want. But there are two problems with this approach:
- You can’t control the outcomes because some depend on other people’s actions.
- It’s easy to lose momentum because the outcomes don’t come as quickly or easily as you’d hoped.
So what’s a better alternative?
I’m proposing two approaches that aren’t outcome-dependent.
Approach #1: Focus on the process, not the outcomes.
You can control the process, so why not focus on that?
Instead of going on a new diet and engaging in an exercise regime to get into a size two dress, focus on becoming someone who eats healthy, exercises, and takes care of their body, regardless of the outcomes and perks.
Focus on your process and the idea of improving yourself.
This ongoing endeavor arises from your internal drive to better yourself—in this case, your health.
This same approach works for our second example.
Focusing on the creative process of developing an online course allows to immerse yourself in it without worrying about how much money it will make.
Completing the project provides a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment while enjoying the process as you go.
Again, these internal rewards don’t rely on anyone else’s input.
When you focus on the external reward, you become grasping, which triggers anxiety and a fear of missing out (the well-known FOMO effect).
Focusing on the process helps you avoid those pitfalls.
Another benefit is that you work primarily on developing discipline and learning.
Each day becomes an episode of self-improvement as you engage in and adjust your process to get better at it.
The process requires discipline because it involves the daily actions that produce results. It encourages you to become stronger in your intent and perseverance.
You may achieve the same outcomes as someone who focuses primarily on goals, but whether you do or not isn’t the sole purpose of your work.
Self-actualization is your work, which has personal meaning for you and helps you sustain your effort and interest.
Now, let’s summarize the value of this approach:
- The activities you choose are within your control.
- The drive to do them comes from within. They’re for you, your purpose, and your benefit. In other words, motivation is intrinsic.
- You improve your self-discipline and task completion. You’ll get results, but the daily discipline is what feeds you.
On to the second unconventional goal.
Approach #2: Create White Space
I recently read an article on Medium by a young man named JA Westenberg. The title was Negative Space: The 2-Hour Rule That Changed My Life.
The subject matter immediately spoke to me as it’s something I believe in and grew up with.
Let me back up:
White (or negative) space is a term in art and photography for the empty space surrounding images in a painting, drawing, or photograph. It’s the backdrop.
White space supports the images and allows you to see them.
Likewise, an empty white canvas is like a still mind before thoughts pop up and fill your mental space.
It’s where creativity, ideas, and solutions arise.
When you stay busy, relentlessly filling every minute with activity, you don’t allow yourself to benefit from your white space.
You’re either working, talking, dealing with problems, or performing tasks. When not doing those things, you scroll through social media, watch TV, play games, or do busy work – generally, until your head hits the pillow and you fall asleep.
Your mental canvas is so cluttered that new ideas, solutions, or insights have no room to arise.
To use white space, you must set aside time to let it surface.
You’ve got to schedule it daily. Literally, put it on your calendar.
Schedule an hour when you aren’t working, planning, using technology, talking, answering emails, or performing tasks.
Allow yourself to be bored, sit with your coffee or tea and gaze into space, or walk outside (without music).
It’s not agenda time. It’s time to be with yourself, to let your mind wander, to engage in free association and contemplation.
Regular use of white space leads to greater creativity.
Innovative approaches to problems, work methods, relationship-building, and entrepreneurial projects pop into your mind.
Moreover, using white space improves your efficiency, performance, and productivity because it recharges you mentally, emotionally, and physically.
When you constantly keep your foot on the gas pedal without pulling into rest stops, your car will eventually break down. And we do that ourselves all the time.
How to Set It Up
Westenberg suggests these rules to help you get started and make it worthwhile.
- Start small. A half-hour a day would be a great starter. You could build it to an hour if you like, or do half an hour a day and an hour once a week. Set it up so you can do it without any downsides.
- Schedule it like an appointment you must keep.
- Don’t schedule it when working on a deadline. You’ll sabotage yourself.
- Let people know you’ll be unavailable for texts, emails, or phone calls during this time.
- If you have to move the time, that’s fine, but don’t delete it.
I would add, pick something that appeals to you.
I like walking outside or sitting with a cup of coffee, my laptop closed, just thinking.
It’s awkward at first, but you eventually look forward to it and love it.
The best ideas come when you allow your mind some room to imagine.
A side benefit is that suspending attendant activity for a specific time daily helps break dopamine addiction.
Dopamine is a necessary neurotransmitter for focusing and sustaining interest in something. It does its job well if stimulated the right way in the right amounts.
Overkill is addictive and dilutes self-discipline. White space is a good stabilizer.
The Short Version
Set whatever goals you want for the coming year. It’s okay to do that, but make sure you use the two unconventional goals we’ve outlined here.
1. Attend to your process every day.
Make your primary goal self-improvement, whether that involves something related to self-care, work, a relationship, or a creative project.
The process is the key to getting results, but it’s also the way to develop yourself and use your gifts and assets.
Focusing on the process will help you with consistency, perseverance, and weathering ups and downs.
2. Set aside and schedule a daily time to create and use white space.
Taking time out to let your mind wander will bring new ideas and creative solutions to daily living and future aspirations, not to mention your goals.
It will also improve your efficiency and task completion. You’ll develop greater calm and the ability to be deliberate and focused in your actions.
The New Year is around the corner. I hope you have a great start to 2025.
That’s all for today!
All my best,
Barbara