The Year of Intent

29 Dec, 2024

The year of intent? What does this mean? It means that I should think before I act, all my actions should contribute to postively to my life, and that I shouldn't worry about what others think of me.

A lot of this has come out of reading 'Digital Minimalism' by Cal Newport^ which resonated with me a bit more than I would have liked. I am stuck in a rut. Instead of doing things that would improve my life I just scroll through reels... I wasn't even really aware of the problem before I read the book, but now I can see the bigger picture and what needs to change.

This year I am going to ask myself the question 'does this task contribute postively to my life?' - if the answer is no, then I should reconsider why I want to do the thing and what I could be doing instead. Why not just change that plug socket now instead of in six weeks time when I've been asked 14 times to do it already... 👀

Postive Impact

How to make friends and influence people

In the words of Aaron Burr:

Talk less
Smile more
Don't let them know what you're against or what you're for

I should stop and think before I say and do things.. I can think of too many occasions where I start talking before I've finished thinking and either upset or annoyed someone. In 2025, I want to be more intentional in my communications with other people and consider how my response makes them feel. I should listen more and take deeper stock of whatever the situation in before responding which should ensure I make more of a positive impact on those closest to me.

Moderation

Being less mindless

I know full well I can't cold turkey block out Reddit, Discord, and other time wasting services. I would just remove the self imposed blocks straight away. Instead, I've implemented time limits that allow me some time each day to catch up.

Using a NextDNS profile I have restricted access to Reddit, Discord, and Mastodon before 5pm and after 9pm on weekdays. On weekends I have been a bit more generous to myself but I've caught myself trying to read Reddit several times today alone before 9am so this is clearly needed.

I've also decided to skip out reading news sites. I plan to listen to podcasts like the BBC's Global News Podcast instead to catch up with the world and also read my RSS feeds once or twice a day to remove further distractions.

The intent here is to make me stop and think about other useful activities that I could be doing:

• Do some chores or DIY
• Read a book or play a game from my backlog
• Go outside

Activity

Making a postive impact on my health

I plan to dedicate some of the time I unlock by being more intentional towards finally getting a healthier which if you read my blog archive has been a goal of mine for the last decade...

Instead of scrolling mindlessly I could go outside and get a walk in. I am thinking about doing Couch to 5k but I am a bit worried about my knees. I'll have a think about this one as I don't want to cause any more damage by being too hasty.

On days that I work from home I could get dressed and walk 15 minutes around the neighbourhood to 'commute to work' or get out of the house for a lunchtime walk. All of this will become a lot easier when the evenings get brighter in the springtime but I am going to try my best to fill the rings on my watch most days.

#Life #Themes