image credit: christie zimmer
I have a confession to make. I struggle with following through on my goals. (THE HORROR.)
I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately, and had a really interesting conversation with my therapist last week that got me wondering about qualities we possess that can be both beneficial and detrimental to our psyche. For example, my resourcefulness and Love (yes, with a capital “l”) of research. I don’t think this blog would be celebrating its 10th birthday without the large amount of research I do to keep the content fresh and (hopefully) engaging. The capsule wardrobe, cleaning up my beauty and skincare, and Mindful Monday posts are a few recent examples. A lot goes into those posts – weeks of reading, studying, crowd-sourcing, etc, and I very much enjoy the entire process. I love taking a huge bite into a subject and figuring out how to make that translate to those of you who might not have the desire (or time) to do the work yourselves. It doesn’t feel like a job to me. (Well, 80% of the time.)
So, YAY for resourcefulness! Makes for interesting blog posts! Except, that, well, NO.
You see, the desire to know everything you possibly can about everything isn’t always beneficial. In fact, it can be downright paralyzing. It’s like what I wrote about in the capsule wardrobe post – too much knowledge and too many choices can actually backfire in your face, leading you to spin around aimlessly without actually doing anything. Walking into a crammed-full closet and declaring, “I have nothing to wear” is the exact same concept at play as purchasing a supplement or researching a new diet or deciding on a school or buying a new phone/car/home/insurance policy. SO MANY CHOICES. (Damn you, interwebs!) I witnessed this firsthand when I was diagnosed with Lyme – I saw so many different specialists and read the books and visited the websites and talked to others dealing with the disease…and ended up starting (and eventually stopping) so many different courses of treatment. That time in my life was when I wrote a lot of of last year’s Mindful Monday posts – I was trying to cut through all the mental and spiritual clutter, quiet the noise, and listen to my own intuition. It’s definitely a lifelong learning curve.
Now, I am learning to walk the fine line between my desire to eat All! Of! The! Information! alive and actually implement some of it.
How do you begin? Well, the above graphic has some fantastic points. For starters, the biggest issue for me is to STOP HAVING SO MANY GOALS AT ONCE. I know, I know. But goals are good! Be proactive! Do the work! Yes, all of that, but when you are drowning in goals and ideas and information, you aren’t going to achieve any of them. Give yourself a break – pick one or two measurable goals and go from there. Be gentle with yourselves – this isn’t a race, and it’s completely normal to move slowly and experience setbacks.
This is what I’ve come up with for 2015. I am going to work on two goals/ideas.
The two things I am focusing on this year are my quarterly capsule wardrobes (which, hello, larger concept – lots of research and planning involved), and the second, which I am unnaturally excited about, is a small, ultra-measurable goal that will thrill me beyond belief to complete. Like happy dances for days.
What is it?
To absolutely NOT buy a single book on my Kindle until I have finished the ones I already own. (Or at least attempt to get through them – if one is horrible, I can’t promise anything, people.)
My name is Sarah and I am an Impulsive Kindle Book Purchaser.
I consider this goal “small” due to the fact that I don’t need to research anything. I don’t need to bury myself in resources as to how to achieve said goal. I just need to read the books. That I bought. At some point because I wanted to read them.
How novel! (No pun intended.)
A very attainable goal, yet a much larger concept is at play. It’s giving me the chance to prove to myself that I can follow through, and I’m being smart about it. I didn’t choose some super involved, pie-in-the-sky dream that could send me spinning. It’s simple and straightforward…isn’t that what we all need at times?
A damn fine goal if I do say so myself. Do feel me following through already or what?
You want to know what the books are, don’t you? Okay, let’s do this.
1. The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up
2. Lessons From Madame Chic
3. The Year of Magical Thinking
4. All The Light We Cannot See
5. The Yamas & Niyamas
6. The Conscious Parent
7. Bringing Home The Dharma
8. Breaking The Habit of Being Yourself
9. The Book of Secrets
10. The Story of a Happy Marriage
11. Divergent
12. The Goldfinch (I CAN NOT GET THROUGH THIS BOOK. Everyone seems to adore it, though. What’s the deal?)
13. The Giver
14. Man’s Search for Ultimate Meaning
15. What We Talk About When We Talk About God
16. The Last Letter From Your Lover
Okay, guys. I’m not buying any more books until these are all finished. #followingthroughlikeaboss
(But tell me what you’re reading. I swear I won’t buy it. Trust me! Consider it a challenge of my willpower!)
What are your thoughts on following through on goals? Do you get overwhelmed like yours truly? Have you considered setting a smaller goal for yourself in hopes to see it through to completion?
CarrieP
January 12, 2015 at 4:59 pmOh, All the Light that Cannot be Seen is magical. More lyrical than most of the books I’ve read but not in a way that disrupts the story. Just beautiful. The Giver and Divergent are really easy reads. The Giver, especially, is thought provoking. My son is finally old enough to read it, so it’s been an interesting discussion. I am an impulse buyer of the “Bestsellers Under $3.99” section of the iTunes Bookstore. It’s kind of embarrassing, but I’ve found some real winners there. (Some real clunkers too, but at least they were cheap.) I just finished The Art Forger and liked it. I reread Unbroken after seeing the movie previews. I’m not a huge nonfiction brand but Laura Hillenbrand is a total master.
I liked the Goldfinch. Didn’t love it though.
whoorl
January 12, 2015 at 5:09 pmI was talking to my friend about my son’s magical outlook on life, and she suggested the book to me. I can’t wait to dig in.
Amy
January 12, 2015 at 5:00 pmThe Yamas and Niyamas is a life changer and The Giver is my favorite book to teach. I’ve been slogging through the Goldfinch and UGH.
whoorl
January 12, 2015 at 5:10 pmI’ve now decided there are more people that dislike The Goldfinch than like. At least in this space, heh. (Great minds think alike.)
Sarah
January 12, 2015 at 5:27 pmI’m on a “book diet” too – No More New Books! Here is my list of Books That Must be Read:
The Book of Dead Birds, Wild Seed, Becoming Josephine, The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, Sag Harbor, Finding Your Own North Star: Claiming the Life you Were Meant to Live, Committed: A Love Story, Your Best Year Yet: 7 simple ways to shift your thinking and take charge of your life, Americanah, Seven Letters from Paris, 11/22/63: A Novel, The Prisoner of Heaven.
There is 12 of them and they are super eclectic.
There are at least three books that I have bought in the last year that were truly mistakes and I will not be forcing myself to read them – straight to the Goodwill bin for them.
Mary
January 12, 2015 at 5:46 pmI wholeheartedly appreciate your goal of finishing all the books on your kindle. Let yourself off the hook with The Goldfinch though. I’ve been there. I tried. I succeeded. And I wanted those hours of my life spent reading that book back. I’d read so many positive things about it and with every page I turned I thought, “this is it. This is where this story will turn the corner and have some value.” And it never happened. Take it from me, your time will be much better spent with another book.
Chandra
January 12, 2015 at 7:17 pmSarah, I LOVE your spirit and your wit! I am a serial book buyer also… but man is it a struggle for me to read them! Anyways, I will probably buy half of your read list… but I too will join you in the journey of finishing them!!!
Tracy D
January 12, 2015 at 10:48 pmThe Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up is AMAZING. Start there. Madame Chic is a quick and fun read too. I love both those books.
Caroline
January 13, 2015 at 3:31 amRe: Goldfinch- I thought the first 200 pages were some of the most evocative descriptions of grief I’ve ever read. His guilt and sadness for his “culpability” in his mother’s death was profound. This alone redeemed the book in my eyes because Lord knows, the Nevada interlude SEVERELY tested my patience. The international intrigue/art ring was pretty good in the end, but really, the book was several hundred pages too long and needed a better editor, IMHO. I love Ann Patchet though I most enjoyed Bel Canto. Thanks for the reading list- I’m off to read Jojo and I’m gearing up for the transformative Tidying Up!
Kristen
January 13, 2015 at 7:46 pmDon’t feel bad. I have about 60 unread books on my kindle currently. But, I don’t count them all as must reads. If they are free, or my husband or kids have read them, then I don’t have to read them.
I am actually planning to finish TheGiver tonight. It is quite good.
Goldfinch — kind of on the fence. Good,not great.
Loved the Ann Patchett book and the Joan Didion book.
My husband loved All the Light We Cannot See, so it is on my list…
I’ve been on a Sherlock Holmes kick , and just read an awesome book — Dark Down Deep about the Chillean mining disaster. So good.
Lauren
January 14, 2015 at 4:09 amI’m reading “I am Malala”, “The Smartest Kids in the World” and “The Hands-Free Mama.” I like a variety. :) Loving the Malala book- it’s like a crash course in recent Southwest Asian culture/politics/etc. I am enjoying the sweetness and earnestness of her voice. Young, but empowered and bold.
Sarah
January 15, 2015 at 9:01 amMore about The Goldfinch: I should add that Donna Tartt’s first book, The Secret History, is fantastic and probably why I was so disappointed by TG. If you haven’t read it, you should.
Leta
January 16, 2015 at 12:14 pmI don’t buy the books, but I always go to the library and bring home about 20 books I’d love to read, have time to finish exactly none of them, and then get completely frustrated when I have to return them all. I recently committed to and finished (yay, me!) Glitter and Glue, a great memoir about a mother/daughter relationship that I really enjoyed.
Christina
January 17, 2015 at 9:51 pmI can’t get over how much I can relate to you and your posts! I’ve been following for about 4 years but feel really connected over the past year. I appreciate your research and what you share about yourself. It’s inspiring, so thank you!
MEH
January 18, 2015 at 4:16 pmI love, love, love my Kindle. I got my book buying under control early by getting a library card to check out ebooks.
If you didn’t realize it, you can use your library card to check out ebooks in most public library systems.
No more using the library to check out hard copy books that you will never remember to return on time. The ebooks can be delivered directly to your Kindle as long as your wi-fi is turned on.
The wait time on popular titles can be long, so the trick is to keep your ebook wait list full of things you want to read.
Check out your public library website. Your local librarian can help if you need it, but the library website will probably tell you all you need to know.
My library system also has e-magazines through Zinio. Check and see if your library does too. I can check out as many magazines as I want! It’s really kind of awesome!
Erikka
January 29, 2015 at 12:55 pmwould something work for you like an online book club, around the books you have left to read on your kindle? I’d be really interested as I’m struggling to find a book club that …gels for lack of a better word. :)
and ps. your book list now makes me want to go buy all those books! and I just might…and call my kindle full for the year!
Sarah Catherine
February 3, 2015 at 12:13 pmI am COMPLETELY confused by all of these Goldfinch haters. It remains one of the most gorgeous, profound, moving books I’ve ever read. I had to force myself to put it down at points so that I wouldn’t finish it too soon. It might help if you are familiar with New York or live here. The way she writes about the city and the West Village in particular pulled so hard on my heart strings. I loved the characters and continue to think about them living in this city. (Hobie!!! <3 ) Anyway, thought you deserved a good review as well! Love the goal, and love your list!!