Addition By Subtraction

I don't really like the idea of New Year's Resolutions because I'm a big believer that a person should always be trying to improve themselves.  There's nothing special about a new year that makes self-improvement any different than any other time of the year.

I haven't noticed as many posts from Facebook friends as I typically have in the past, but the ones that I do see are mostly about things they want to add in their life or they are very vague resolutions like being healthier, saving money, being nicer, etc.

How to make a change.  See, it's simple!

I'm no expert in goal setting, but I have done a pretty damn good job of making improvements and bettering myself in the past five years.  What has worked for me is getting totally obsessed with whatever it is that I am trying to do.  It may not be healthy, good for relationships, or provide balance, but I definitely get shit done.

When I go after a new goal or try to do something new, I'm always super motivated in the beginning, like most most people tend to be, but after a bit of time I start to get bored.  Let's take guitar for example, since this is the newest thing that I've picked up.  In the past, I've done the methodical way of learning and have failed 3 or 4 times.  I bought the books, learned some of the theory, played Old McDonald from the books, but eventually got bored.  I took the slow and steady approach and it did not work for me.

What I did this time (and did the same thing for learning bass and drums) was that I figured out what exactly I wanted to do and put in tons of time right away until I could do it.  I took advantage of my motivation in the early stages and went wild until I got it down.  I didn't worry about any of the technical skills.  I found a song I wanted to play and I learned the three chords I needed to play it.  Then when I found another song with a new chord, I learned that one.  Now I can play about ten different chords fairly well and that covers maybe 80% of the songs out there.  When I come across a new chord in a song that I want to learn, I will learn that chord.  This kept learning fun and interesting.  Don't work on any skills that won't directly and immediately move you closer to your goal.

With drums, my goal was to be good enough to play in a band so I went all out, found people to play with and practiced over and over for hours until I could play the songs that I played.  I didn't worry about cultivating any other drumming skills except for the skills I needed to achieve my goal.  Now that I've gotten over the learning curve and I'm having fun, I've started learning some of the more technical skills and things that aren't as much fun, but now I know how some of those skills can be applied so it's worth learning them.

I can also apply this to life.  I haven't totally defined my goals, but I know some of them.  I want to have as many experiences as possible with the people I care about and enjoy my time with them.  Whenever I am presented with an option or a choice regarding things to do, I can ask myself if it will move me closer to my goals.  As much as I possibly can, I am going to keep removing things from my life that don't increase my enjoyment of life and add in other things that do.

An example here is that I have removed about 95% of my TV time from my life.  The only time I watch TV is if there is a specific show I want to watch.  Even then, I order it off of Google Play or watch it on Netflix. I have watched about 5 hours of NFL football this season and maybe 5 minutes of NBA basketball.  There are times when I would enjoy sitting down and watching a game, but overall, I have gained much more from eliminating TV than I have lost.  There is no way that I would be two years through school and be as good at music as I have gotten if I had TV in my life.  I also would've spent more money and I probably would've gained weight.

Now don't take all of this as me saying that I am better than others because I have made improvements and reached some goals that I put out there for myself.  I am only stating that this is what worked for me.  I know the goals that I have reached are goals that many other people have and they may be struggling to reach them just as I was.  Maybe you can take some of these methods and it will help you reach your goal.  Maybe it won't help, I'm not sure.  Like James Altucher always says on his blog, you need to choose yourself because no one else is going to choose you for you.  You have to care more about your goals than anyone else does. If you don't make it a priority, no one else is going to force you to do the things necessary to reach your goal. Take some personal responsibility and make it happen.