My 2021 System
January 14, 2021
Iāve never been a practitioner of yearly goal setting since it goes against my tendency to go with the flow, but this year Iām taking a new approach. I do have some general goals in mind, but instead of putting any energy toward them specifically, Iām implementing a system of habits whose byproduct will hopefully lead to them. My system is diabolically simple. Every morning before work, I will exercise, stretch, make art, read, and write. Thatās it. Thatās the list.
I have a check valve built in to avoid potential burnout, which is a pattern of six weeks on, two weeks off, but Iām playing that part by ear. I donāt want to do fewer than six weeks, but Iāll allow myself to extend it, spirit willing.
The principals of this system are in service of the birth of new ideas. Much of my creative energy serves the needs of customers & coworkers, and Iām enthusiastic about the prospect of adding some selfishness to the equation. Iām not sure what, if anything, will come of this, but I can guarantee Iāll sleep better at night knowing that Iām giving myself at least a puncherās chance of finding out.
With that, here are my goals for 2021:
Make make a complete art series
This one is pretty ambitious considering I struggle with bringing a piece of art to a āfinishedā state in general. Accomplishing that for an entire series raises the stakes even more. Iām clinging to the hope that the first piece will be the hardest and within that effort, I will grind out a mini-system that I can apply to the rest of the pieces in the series.
Read more books than last year
Not very ambitious and probably pretty easy to achieve. Perhaps simply reading more will lead to more focused and domain-specific reading goals in the future.
Post something to this site at least twice a month
After storming out of the gate last September, my writing production slowed quite a bit, though Iām very happy to say it never stopped. I have utterly zero clue how writing will benefit me over time, but I have blind faith that it will. Also, I enjoy writing immensely, though itās one of the harder things to do well consistently.
Move back up north
This one is not a creative pursuit as such, but will likely be a huge milestone in my adult life. I grew up in Pennsylvania / New Jersey and moved to Florida to get my design career off the ground. I know, Florida doesnāt sound like a mecca for design, but as they say, itās not what you know but who you know, and I knew someone here who offered me my first design job in 2005. Anyway, Iām ready for a change and I couldnāt shake my north-eastern roots. Itās going to be interesting with the pandemic, but by this time next year, I hope Iām already tired of shoveling snow and begging for spring to arrive.
This isnāt an exhaustive list, but for someone who never even makes one, I think itās a good start.