3 Day Projects (2019-2023)
Posted: Tue Oct 08, 2019 8:32 am
source: pixabay.com (wagrati_photo)
Céad míle fáilte! (ga: a hundred thousand welcomes)
This post marks the beginning of a new approach: 3 Day Projects.
My personality being what it is, I quickly lose interest in trudging toward some lofty destination over the distant horizon. After a while, I become restless and bored, increasingly tempted by shortcuts and vendors along the road. Inevitably, I end up finding new adventure elsewhere, hot on the trail of a few dozen pet procrastinations.
Another issue is that it's almost impossible to predict where I'll be, or what state of health I'll be in, several weeks, months, or years from now. Life is simply littered with bumps and potholes. And as many of my previous projects turned out to be long or overambitious, it only took one serious health setback, domestic crisis, or demanding deadline to break the chain of past successes and watch good intentions fall apart.
I believe the solution lies in how I choose and define projects. Long and overambitious projects make easy targets for life's bumps in the road, and the cost to each project in terms of momentum and motivation adds up. Essentially, the longer the project goes on, the more likely it will get derailed or overturned at several points. At least for me.
If I break language learning down into much shorter achievable wins, I think I'll make greater progress in the long-term; mini-projects that are just long and challenging enough to break free of the shadows of past ambitions, but short, easy, and flexible enough to remain highly resilient and low risk over the test of time. With enough of these under my belt, I hope to leave the days of wishful horizons behind me.
Ke aloha,
T.
(Sequel 2024 blog.)