New Year, New Set of Goals

Well, we made it! It’s officially 2022! What does that mean? Nothing really. It’s just another year when you look at it. But personally, there are some things I would really like to accomplish this year. What kinds of things? Well, they’re kind of all over the place to be honest.

First of all, I would like to put out two blog posts a month. That might not seem like a lot, but it is to someone like me. I find myself in the mood to write and then I procrastinate it over and over. By keeping to a two post a month schedule, I feel that I can actually get things done and post regular content.

Secondly, I’d like to read at least one book a month. For some that might seem easy. And it is. But like so many other things, I find it difficult to do. I find other things to do in its place. I’m currently reading one, but I’m not sure I’ll finish it by the end of January. That doesn’t mean I failed. If I can have 12 books finished by December 31, 2022, I will have accomplished my goal of reading one book per month. I would like to read more, but we’ll see how that goes.

Third, I’d like to finish the movie I’m writing. While it is technically done, I’m in the editing stage. How long will that take? Who knows. I’ll keep working on it until I feel it can’t be perfected anymore. Or until I think it’s good enough because otherwise, I’ll always be editing it. I also just came up with a few new ideas that I want to write in as well.

Fourth, I’d like to film my short film. Which one? Any of them. I entered Babylon into a few screenwriting contests in 2021 and I was waiting to see how that went before doing anything else with it. In the meantime, I’ve been working on another short film called Time Hunters. Time Hunters is actually a two-part series that I want to finish writing and film at some point. Who knows, maybe I’ll film Babylon and both Time Hunters 1 and Time Hunters 2 this year.

Finally, I’d like to improve my video editing skills. I know I’m a good video editor, but that doesn’t mean I can’t improve on it. There’s always room for improvement. I would also like to get familiar with After Effects. I’ve had it for years but never really used it.

2022 has potential to be a great year. I might not get everything done that I want to, but even if I get a few things done I’ll be happy. If I get none of them done, I’ll still be happy. At least I gave it an effort and in the end that’s all that really matters.

I Am Who I Am

I’ve been reflecting lately. On 2021. On my life. On the things I’ve done and haven’t done. Not in a bad way. More like a reflection of my past to better understand the present and the future.

It’s weird. Because from the time I turned 18 until I was in my late 20s, I sort of struggled with who I was. I didn’t know what career I wanted. I didn’t fully know who I was as a person. I didn’t know if I had any skills that were worth anything. I wasn’t necessarily a mess, it was just a decade of discovery for me.

The weird thing is, once I hit 30, all of that kind of changed. Well, most of it. Ok, only some of it. I discovered who I was in my late 20s. The person I am, my values and traits, that was all locked in. But something kind of funny happened. Something I didn’t expect. I stopped caring.

What do I mean by that? It’s simple. I stopped giving a shit about what other people thought of me. Last year I read a book called The Subtle Art of not Giving a F*ck. It was a great read and I recommend it to everyone. After reading that book, I was left speechless. I realized that I put way too much effort into things I couldn’t control. About a year later, I finally started taking the advice from the book.

We can’t control everything. We can’t control how people view us. We can’t control what they think of us. We can’t control what they say about us either. But we can control how we react to things. And once I hit 30, I literally decided that people’s opinions of me didn’t matter anymore. If they talk trash about me, that doesn’t matter either. I know who I am and I’m not changing for anyone. I know I can’t control what people say about me, but I can control how I react. And how will I react? I’ll act like I don’t don’t care anymore because I don’t.