It’s been a while, but I’m happy to be posting again.
It’s nice to see you all again, and I hope you’re all doing okay.
I haven’t been doing well in the health department for a while now. Which is why uploads have been so slow. But I’m so happy that I can post this now. Thank you for sticking by me.
As you can see from the date, this footage is from December 7th. Which was quite a while ago now. But I found this journalling exercise really helpful and wanted to share it with you all.
If you end up following along, let me know what you think. If any of my priorities resonated with you as well, comment them! It’s always encouraging to me to know that I’m not the only one working on a goal.
I want to be clear up front that I did not invent this exercise, but found it on the Get Rich Slowly website. I’ll have it linked in the description. The article, and that whole website honestly, is really refreshing and practical advice for navigating not only personal finances but general life wanderings.
The method is essentially this: by using three prompts, you can narrow down all the chaos in your head to find out what actually matters to you and then, hopefully, use that clarity to fuel your own actions.
First, we want to explore the question: What are my lifetime goals? If I didn’t have to worry about money, what would I do?
You should list everything that comes to mind for five minutes. This is a long time. I struggled with this. The prompt requests that you not filter yourself. Everything is on the table. When you finish the list, you can review the list for an additional five minutes to make the things you listed out more specific or more clear.
This is the list I ended up with:
travel. Especially to Europe, Canada, and around the U.S.
Do drag shows multiple times a month
garden, I want to grow my own food.
take art classes and create every day.
spend more time with my partner and my friends
build a book of recipes and treats
play every video game that I’ve put on the back burner
read every book that catches my eye
design a home top to bottom
help my friends and others find their own creativity.
The prompt then asks you to choose the top three items that seem the most important.
travel, especially to Europe, Canada, and around the US
take art classes and create every day
spend more time with my partner and my friends
The next prompt is a new list with the prompt of: How would I like to spend the next five years? This is another five minute list making time where the prompt asks to suspend judgement and write not what we think we should do but what we would actually like to do.
I ended up writing about wanting to spend time with my partner and friends. I want to go out to more artistic events, places, and museums. I’d like to grow my youtube channel. I’d especially like to work for myself or close to it, something truly remote based or flexible. I’d like to learn more about art and improve my artistic skills. And I’d like to be more regularly booked for drag shows.
Just like before, the prompt asks us to highlight the three things that seem appealing. Mine were:
spending more time with my partner and loved ones, working for myself or even more flexibly, and learning more about art and improving my skills.
The next prompt, I actually skipped. It was too painfull for me to explore at this time. But if you’re following along and you’re interested, the prompt is to explore what you would do should you know that you were to pass away in the next six months.
For me, the point of this entire exercise was to give me hope and help me realize what I wanted to focus on. I understand why the author penned the question this way, but given my life circunstances, the framing wasn’t appropriate for me at this time. So I’m glad I was able to protect my heart a little and skip that without feeling too badly.
The next prompt is to label the next page ‘My Most Important Goals’ and to list out the things that were highlighted in the previous lists. If any of them were similar, now is the time to combine them into one sentence. This is also the point where, if you’re like me and forgot to highlight the three most appealing points in each prompt, you can do it now.
So my list of my most important goals is
Spend more time with my partner and friends
work for myself/ work in a fully flexible environment
learn and improve upon artistic skills
The last prompt is more of an open journalling assignment to draft out a mission statement. The statement should be relatively short, from a few words to a few sentences. I decided to write my mission statement as a series of ‘I am’ sentences. I’ll read it to you.
I am someone who prioritizes quality time with my partner and my friends. I value my realationships. I am filled with creative energy and deserve to put that energy into motion on a daily basis. I thrive when I am learning. I value other cultures and expanding my own perspective.
The author of this promt list then encourages leaving the mission statement for a few days and returning to it later to reflect on it. They stress that this mission statement is not set in stone and that it can be altered and adjusted for practicality or for changes in your own perspective and feelings.
I decided to expand on it with active action steps that I can take to support my mission statement.
schedle social gatherings with loved ones regularly
save and track finances in order to fund travel and quality time
prioritize art and creation, posting regularly and trying new things.
It’s been over a month and I can say that I have been doing some of these things.
I had a very busy few weeks with my partner and one of my close friends visiting. But we did a lot of artistic focused activities and it was really inspiring.
I haven’t been great about tracking my expenses in the last month or so, but I feel as though at this time I haven’t needed it as much. I think I do want to track everything again next month, just so that I can prioritize my savings goals a little more. Since I tracked everything I spent during the months of November and December, i feel more confident that I could make a realistic budget and stick to it.
I also have been trying to get out and be more social. I’ve had some lovely outings with friends and hosted some friends in the last month as well. During the last week or so I haven’t gone out much, but work has also gotten more busy and my health hasn’t been great, so I think prioritizing rest has been a better move for me.
I’m also happy to report that I should have more regular drag shows coming up again. This is great news for my own heart. I’ve also been successful in carrying around a sketchbook and drawing little bits and pieces. They’re obviously not full works of art, but I’m thankful for them regardless as they’ve gotten me inspired to create more regulalry. I haven’t developed a daily habit yet, but I think I’m on the right track.
I hope this was helpful for you. It definitely has influenced me in the last month or so to be more mindful about the things I value and to make choices that are better for me long term.
I think that’s all for me today. Thank you for listening.
I hope you’re doing as well as you can be.
I’ll talk to you again soon.