Updated December 15, 2022

Are you ever overwhelmed by all the things you have to do? The list seems never-ending. Laundry takes up a whole section of my brain that should probably be dedicated to something more important. It turns out that goal setting and thinking about everything we want to do at once isn’t the best.

Goal-setting for your health

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Focusing too much on our long-term goals and thinking too far out deters what we can do today and from what we experience at the moment. I listened to an Art of Manliness podcast that featured guest, John Zeratsky (a former Google employee). Zeratsky talked about how he was exhausted thinking about all the things he had to do. He felt like life was speeding past and he wanted it to slow down. So, he came up with a new way of thinking to simplify and optimize his life. It’s a great episode.

One of the steps to Zeratsky’s framework is to focus on a daily highlight. A highlight is one thing you want to accomplish that day. Focusing on the highlight lets you plan everything else around it. It may be going to the gym, having coffee with a friend, or a specific work task you want to accomplish. For me, it’s usually a writing assignment or some form of exercise (apparently, chasing the little man around all day isn’t enough).

In his book Atomic Habits, James Clear talks about your daily stack. Clear says goals are good so you know why you want to change a habit. But unless you modify your lifestyle you’ll never reach your goal. For instance, instead of planning your whole day around the goal of going to the gym, first determine why you want to go to the gym. Is it to lose weight? Get stronger? Take advantage of the gym daycare for some alone time?

Once you know your why you can then find the time in your day to start making 1% improvements towards your long-term goal.

I was pleasantly surprised to hear Zeratsky talk about the “daily goal” on the Art of Manliness podcast because I started implementing that method a few months after Axel was born. I was getting bogged down in trying to still do the startup, be there for the baby, and spend time with my husband. It was all too much. I decided I could accomplish one thing each day, which would be good enough. I had to make some major life changes to put it into effect but it’s been working out pretty great.

That being said, there are still things I want to do. I think it’s still important to have ambition and goals. I think the key is to not be disappointed by the fleeting feeling of accomplishment after completing a goal. And not to be a serial goal-setter because it detracts from the here and now.

All The Things I Still Want To Do

✅Mentor someone/help them get started in their career.

I made a new friend and advocated for her to get an internship at Journey. Since then, we’ve worked on a few projects together.

📖 I want to write a memoir or “how to” book.

This one is kind of started. I started writing a book. The working title is Note Another Metaverse Book. I need to create a landing page for it.

I want to be published on a big platform like Forbes, the Harvard Business Review, or Inc. Magazine.

Ok, this one is a work in progress. I ghostwrote for clients whose work was published in Forbes.

In the meantime, you can find my work on AWEXR.com and the Blippar Blog.

🙈 I want to write a children’s book for my son.

Yup. Totally forgot about this one.

✅I always admire people who come up with a product. I would like to invent my own.

Check out Your Swipe Guide to the Metaverse. 😉

✅ I want to travel.

I want to tour a medieval castle. Ok, I’ve kind of done this. I visited La Alhambra in Granada Spain. I visited Palacio Royal in Madrid and Gyeongbokgung in Seul South Korea. Oh, and there was that little castle in Ireland that was the size of a modern day house… But I’d love to visit one of the classical castles that the Disney logo is based off on in Germany.

I want to explore more of the United States too.

It would be awesome to visit all the major national parks (and hidden gems). It would be cool to visit where my ancestors landed in North America five years after the Mayflower.

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