Alright, January is here. I did some reflection earlier in November, but I’d also known I’d want to do it January, again. (It’s so much fun!) Luckily, my sister sent me a guide that she found which looks pretty interesting. So I’m just going to use that format to do this.
(Always) make your questions bigger than your answers
Q: What was the biggest question I answered this year and why was it important?
Hands down has to be the question around how much do I enjoy art and creative pursuits, and how much time can I spend on these activities. The enjoyment is unparalleled, these activities give me a sense of deep joy and fulfilment, something that I only get from nature and people otherwise. I don’t know yet whether I can spend 40 hours on these activities but if I keep cycling between them in some way or the other, I can. This was important because really it feels like a way of life and I probably want to design my life in a way that I can keep enough time and energy for it.
Q: What are the three questions I want to gain answers to in the next year, why are they important?
- What do I like more between music and writing? If at all there is an answer to this— or what would I like to prioritise, or focus more on? I do think I get more unadulterated joy out of music, but I’m not a 100% sure yet. I do think I need both in my life. It’s important because prioritisation is very important to output, and I’d want to have clarity on this.
- Am I able to look at Delhi or any other Indian city as a place I can settle in, long-term?
- What is my relationship with gender, masculinity and femininity?
(Always) make your purpose greater than your money
Q: What achievements over the past year most aligned with your purpose? What are you most proud of?
- Moving to India (because it helped me spend more time with art and music)
- Starting drums and learning keys more
- Doing more songwriting
- Music open-mics, poetry open-mics
- 20-30K words on my blog, started substack, wrote a lot more poetry
Q: What impact do you want to have over the next year? What actions will give you the greatest momentum toward this goal?
- (Attempt to) release an EP (or a single at the least)
- Write more songs
- Try out more production
- Collaborate with more people (find people with complementary strengths)
(Always) make your confidence greater than your comfort.
Q: Looking back over the past year, where did you expand out of your comfort zone? In what ways are you more confident now as a result of this expansion?
All the achievements I’ve listed above involved a lot of stepping out of my comfort zone. I’ve done a lot more exposure therapy wrt my anxieties as well. Even before to India, I’d done a lot of new things in Amsterdam itself. (Meeting new, diverse people, poetry open mics, more biking, etc). I’m definitely a lot more secure as a person lately, or at least a lot more accepting of me, my flaws and my limitations. I post a lot more without thinking about it, I invite people in my inner circle more easily. I trust “vibes” and frequency a lot more than “thoughts”— which is only a result of positive experiences which have come out of an inherent trust in life and the universe.
Q: What new commitment will require a jump in capabilities over the next year? What will be possible in making this leap?
Since releasing an EP is my biggest, most-important goal in the coming year, I would need a lot more trials, experimentation, technical skills, etc to make it all happen. Primarily I feel very blocked by the idea of sound mixing and editing and whether I want to do it myself or find other people to do it will become important to answer. But I can only know by trying it out, so I will need to get over that blocker and just do it. Making an action plan can help, I imagine. Which I will- this week.
(Always) make your cooperation greater than your status.
Q: What is an example of extraordinary teamwork or collaboration from this past year that created a big breakthrough?
Q: What teamwork will be essential to your multiplier goals this year?
Kind of the same here. Do a lot more collaborative music projects as opposed to solo projects. Learn to rely on other people for things that I’m not very good at, especially if they’re willing to do it. (For example, mom for help with house decoration etc, domestic help for taking care of house maintenance, food, etc), so on so forth.
(Always) make your enjoyment greater than your effort.
Q: Looking back over the past year, what activities, team- work, or projects provided the most enjoyment?
Q: Going into next year, what strategies or delegations will free you up to focus more on the activities that fascinate and motivate you most?
Again, this is the same here. I’ve already been focused on joy and fulfilment more than other things. So, pretty sorted with this.
(Always) make your gratitude greater than your success.
Q: Who are you grateful for in your life right now? are they important to you?
Q: What can you do to demonstrate or express your gratitude to these people?
Note that success to me is waking up happy, having a decent day, and going to sleep on time or getting enough sleep in the day, doing my healthy things, not resisting negative feelings that come my way, not resisting external situations too much. That being said, I feel like I do express a good amount of gratitude for the good people in my life. So, again, kind of sorted on this. Will obviously also make a Bangalore trip to visit close friends and kind of thank them, in a way. I suppose since quality time is my love language, I tend to prioritise that for people I love. But maybe I can also look at how people like to receive gratitude, and not just rely on quality time.
(Always) make your performance greater than your applause.
(Always) make your performance greater than your applause.
(Always) make your learning greater than your experience.
(Always) make your future bigger than your past.
Looking at these questions, I’m realising that the answers for me are pretty much centered towards creative pursuits (esp music), so I’m just going to leave the last few questions unarticulated, since they’re pretty repetitive even in my mind.
I’m linking the doc here in case anyone’s interested in referencing it for their own reflections!
Happy new year, cheers xx
untitled atm 