Hello 2021

                             

    It is typically satisfying to see something to its end; whether it's the end of a book, or the end of the school term. Most of us idealize what it is like to start something and end it knowing you have completed it to the best of your abilities and it can now be shelved on your bookshelf of life. A chapter you can say that you experienced. However, what about those projects that just faded away, or were abandoned? 

    A lot of people start things at full speed, rushing towards the finish line as if that's the one thing that can drive them to the end. New Years resolutions are an amazing example of what I'm talking about; people give themselves a list of things they want to achieve, such as learn a new instrument, exercise more, drink less, unsubscribe to Netflix...the list goes on and on, but you get the point. Some people are successful, but a large majority revert back to old habits because what makes the New Year different from the year before? The difference between last day in December to the first day in January is merely 24 hours. So like a ball rolling across the ground, it will quickly lose momentum once it travels too far or hits a significantly sized obstacle. 

    This blog was created back in 2013 with the intention of publishing 1 post a day for all 365 days of the year. Currently, there are 127 posts (128 after this one is published) spanning 2 years from 2013-2015. I have tried to "pick up the threads of an old life" by continuing on a fruitless path that led to nowhere. How did I think I could complete 365 posts with the same mindset I had before? Surely, I should have looked for other sources of motivation or switched to a new focus. Alas, I was fixated on the past; I saw the posts I diligently made and thought "I've gone too far to stop now". But that is how the momentum stops, how productivity grinds to a halt, and how this blog became a lost figment of my past until 6 years later, at 10PM on a Monday night, I decided to log in again. 

    So how does one restart an old engine? Sometimes, it's okay to accept the fact that there's no going back. Six years is by no means a short period of time. I graduated high school and university, got baptized, travelled to new places, and outgrew some clothes. The engine from 6 years ago has parts that have deteriorated from bad maintenance, bad conditions and general neglect. I need to order new parts to replace that engine, clean it up, and learn how to maintain it so it lasts for the future. 

    This transformation requires leaving the broken pieces behind. Leaving some untied loose threads that we can learn from but never fix in the way we want them to be fixed. Not everything receives closure and that is life. That only happens in movies and books. Even then, there are "cliffhanger" endings that leave the viewer yearning for more. "Yes! She defeated the baddie that killed her aunt, but does she get together with her dorky sidekick? I need to know!" Accepting this will help create a momentum that lasts longer than the shallow willpower conjured up from New Year's fireworks and fizzy drinks. 

    A metronome can maintain it's momentum due to a series of interior mechanics that I have no knowledge on. Most people who have had to practice an instrument used an metronome to stay on time. Bach wouldn't sound very nice if the musician lost his/her place and played the piece faster than it should be in order to catch up to where they would be if they had never messed up. They start where they left off or go back a couple bars to rely on the help of muscle memory to continue. This teaches me that playing catch up is nowhere near as effective as if you had enough time to go at your regular pace. However, deadlines in our world seem to pile up and we do not have the time to complete everything to our own specifications. To do so would be a fool's errand and many fall into this pitfall called "perfectionism". 

    How do we find the balance between completing projects on time and working at our own pace? During a concert, sports game or meeting, there is an opportunity for overtime. For example, a basketball game could end once the 4th quarter buzzer sounds or the game could go on if the game is tied. You might say "some things have a set deadline, there are consequences are handing things in late!" and I would agree with that. However, I'm talking about something else, please allow me to entertain a different perspective. These events can last longer than scheduled, but people stay because they have allotted more time for them because they understood there was a possibility for overtime. When planning out how long you would need to complete something, always give it more time than you think it needs. There is always the possibility that you'll need it.

    Now if you're like me and you tend to self-sabotage and leave things for the last minute, executing this method would be equivalent to climbing an unsurmountable wall. If procrastination was a skill, I'd be an expert. I was only able to apply this technique in the smallest capacities, such as giving myself 1 more hour to finish research for a paper by taking it from the time I had left to actually write it. The "Pomodoro 25 minute, 5 day break method" is a popular pattern I've adopted into my work habits. The reason I'm exposing my horrible work habits is because it relates to what I'm talking about; how to maintain new habits. 

    The name of the game is consistency, and I'm the biggest loser. The metronome consistently clicks at the same rate each time not because of the first push but because of its design. When you ride a swing, it does not swing on its own, you have to constantly redistribute your weight to keep it going. A ball could probably keep rolling if it was going down an endless hill unhindered by random obstacles along the way. This is unrealistic. Even if one were to install a ramp at the bottom of the hill to launch the ball back to the top, the ball would eventually lose momentum and come to a standstill at the bottom. There's a reason why perpetual motion machines are impossible (gifs do not count). 

    Now you might say "I don't want to do this forever, I just want to be able to keep at something for longer than a month" Yes yes, but let's go back to the ball rolling on a regular table. We can't do the same thing and expect it to go further than it did the first time, we need to accept that some things have to come to an end, even if it's not the end we've envisioned. We know that everything requires a certain amount of time to complete, and allotting more time than you need allows for random variables to mess with your pace but still result in a completed task by the deadline. If the objective of the task is to keep the ball rolling, then it requires consistent small kicks. Someone who kicks lightly will go further than someone that uses all their strength in the beginning to kick the ball as far as possible then run up to the ball to kick it as far as possible again. 

    A good visual would be that meme where someone skipped 4 steps and goes straight to the fifth one. Sure, it looks more efficient, but it requires more effort. Your tank will be out before you get to the 30th step. It's not too late to change your 5-step leap into a 1-step hike. This is why your teachers are always breaking projects into smaller more manageable tasks, and if you have not learned this by university, academics will take a large bite out of your behind as courses slap you with dozens of papers that aren't broken up into smaller steps. It will be up to you to understand your assignment so you can break it up yourself.

    Enough about academics, I'm talking about keeping up a blog! It's not as simple as planning out the topics, writing it all out and publishing it. It starts with an objective/vision: what is the purpose of your blog? Mine: to post once a day for a year. Analyze whether this is achievable. If not, create easier goals. Perhaps it should be a baseline of once a week. So what should we do? Create a posting schedule. When you have a topic, do some research and keep the sources in a place where yo can easily access them again. Write down topics to visit on another day. Plan out what you want to write and whether you want to add any visuals or links. Write it. Proofread it. Check preview. Double check. Publish. Remind yourself when you're going to do this again the next day. Rinse and repeat. 

    If it isn't working out, end it. If you're losing motivation, find inspiration. If you're tired, take a break but remember to go back to it later. What will happen after this post? Who knows. I just know that there's no going back.

    I'm talking like I have 20 years of experience and published 15 self-help books with 10 on the New York's Bestseller's list. But no, I have no credibility whatsoever. You are entitled to your own opinion, and there are many people who are much wiser than I am. I'm speaking from personal experience and writing down my thought process helps me understand myself and build a plan towards fixing my bad habits. Everybody is different, so you may not relate to this train of thought, and that's okay. Thank you for taking the time to peek into the gears of my mind.