365 Ways to Make Progress Towards Your Life Goals

I’m taking a pledge right now.

I spend so much time building my todo list, reading about people doing awesome things, reading articles on how to be better, and thinking about big goals but it falls apart when I reflect on the past. I noticed I have the same goals month after month, year after year, without progress. It seems like the missing ingredient is actually taking action. I should be building habits/systems that help me live a healthy and happy life, but oftentimes I get stuck in analysis paralysis trying to figure out the best course of action. It’s a fear that says “No action is better than imperfect action” but that doesn’t fit reality. Would I rather be a decent guitarist or still be stuck imagining myself on stage? Is the perfect plan, which is so unattainable, really worth waiting to start?

To combat this and try to set the wheels in motion, for the next 365 days I will obey the following rules:

1. Have to come up with an answer for “What did I do today that pushed me towards my long term goals?”

   This can be something small, it isn’t meant to add stress onto life by setting impossible standards of work each day. This could be writing an article or catching up with an old friend, even small amounts of progress mean you’re still moving forward. As a nice to have, I will try to write next to each action which bigger goal it is leading me towards.

2. Fill up the rest of the notebook page with writing about the day or my thoughts.

   Again, the point isn’t to add pressure onto the day, so that’s the only rule. I can write “I don’t know what to write” over and over if that’s how I feel, so long as the page gets filled.

Since I had writing & journaling on my wish list, this project will knock out three birds with one stone. Hopefully this challenge will lead to new insights on what I want from life and the long term goals I have, since I will be forced to contemplate them every. single. day.

That’s it, that’s the magic of 365 Ways to Make Progress Towards Your Life Goals. It’s as simple as taking a single action each day to better yourself, no matter how small.