September 13, 2023
How many of you have oh-so-many things that you want to do, but never get the time to?
Things that you think would be fulfilling, life-affirming, rewarding.
Things that would feed your soul, help you become a better person.
Maybe even things that help you get to the next stage of your professional career.
I have a long list of such things. I hardly ever prioritize them in order to actually make any meaningful progress.
So, for the sake of creating some space in my brain, and to think less about how I'm letting myself down by not doing these things (hashtag high achiever problems), I'm creating a list here. A list that will likely change over time, but that's fine. This will be memorialized for 2023 at least. It may be a list that goes nowhere, but at least it's here, not in any particular order.
📚Read More Books - I read plenty, but this year I haven't spent as much time as I would like to. In the past few years, I've been able to get through a fairly large number of books between physical and audio books, but 2023 has been challenging on that front.
📘Write a Book - There, I've said it. Something only a handful of people In my life knew until now, and now everyone who lands here knows. Now that this is out of only my very small trusted circle, maybe some day I will actually muster up the courage to take the next steps toward this goal.
🌲More Time In Nature - Difficult to accomplish In Texas, but we try with our morning walks. I no longer want to spend my travels in cities. I have a strong desire to be In places that allow me to feel wonder and awe in a way only nature can.
✍️Write More Often - FitMasala Musings is a new endeavor toward this particular need; a restart of a practice I thoroughly enjoy. I am admittedly rusty. There's never enough time in a day, so days when I get to write something - a blog post, a non-work email, a letter - are truly becoming sacred.
🧒Quality Time with my Kids - So much of my time with my cute little kids Is around to-dos - meal time, bath time, bedtime. I find it hard to just sit and play or enjoy something other than TV together. We do read plenty of books together, though, so there's something.
🥰 Romance - I'm not a romantic per se, but I like cozy, intimate time with the father of those cute kids I mentioned. Hubby Is definitely a romantic.
💼Career Strategy - I'd like to be able to deeply contemplate where I want my career to go. For context, I have a senior role customer data analytics in financial services. What should I do next, though? Should I up-skill? Should I get another degree at some point? Should I look at an entirely different career? I have very little desire to do any of these things, unfortunately, even if I think this area of my life needs some dedicated TLC. The options seem like potentially good starts when I get to this with the time I don't have.
👭Time with Friends & Family - I've been very deliberate about who I spend time with in 2023. I want to be able to spend the most time with people who help me think differently or people who I simply enjoy being with. A few missed opportunities that I'm sad about, but that is how life goes.
Well, I didn't expect this to be a list touchings every aspect of my life. It's also not as long a list as I'd originally thought. Writing this down definitely helps me clearly see the broader areas that need more attention. Again, this list may never go anywhere in a hurry, but there's certainly room to improve. I can commit to finding ways I can pepper in the things that make a difference - that will be a fun next step!