Making Time for your Dreams
I love writing. I don’t particularly always think I am good at it, but that’s because I’ve been quite out of practice. There was a time in my life when I had a personal blog that I wrote in every single day. Talking about everything from brushing my teeth that day to a funny TV show I watched. But I also used writing as a way to self reflect. I had a lot of my deepest thoughtful moments in my personal blog – about life and love and everything in between. I often have to remind myself that I am the same thoughtful person now as I was then. The biggest difference is that in growing up, life just gets busy. Sometimes you just have to learn to make time for your dreams and the things you love. (I just recently got back into comic books! Awesome stuff.)
I tell people a lot now that I’ve had my life on pause for awhile because the corporate world ate me up and I felt I didn’t have the time or energy to pursue many of my hobbies. It’s guys like Michael that find ways to inspire everyday and get you thinking that – you too can make a difference! My favorite moments in my lifetime were often the small gatherings with my college friends just talking about life. I’m hoping that Motivate2Inspire can grow to become that point of nostalgia. Have you ever missed that moment in time when you’ve been with close friends and talked about life? Not just about work or what movies are out this weekend, but the explorations of people’s worldviews, hopes, dreams, perspectives on life, etc. Well, we don’t make time for that much these days anymore do we? All of our news comes into short snippets and Social Media makes it possible for us to catch up on people’s lives a lot quicker than we ever have. I love the information age and I’m one that’s the computer daily, but it’s important that I make time to catch up with friends again, explore something new that brings me closer to my dreams, and write more so that I can share my life with others who may appreciate life’s contemplating moments.
Have you written out your New Year’s Resolutions yet??? If not – then do so right now! You only have 11 months now to complete them! My 2011 resolution included writing a 100-page anything. Could have been a short story, or a comic, or 100 haikus. I failed miserably. I think I only got to 12 pages. I’m going to share with you a few of my 2012 resolutions because I feel its a good example of how they are manageable, realistic, and also makes a point of being able to get you closer to fulfilling some of your goals/dreams.
- Food and Beverage Knowledge – now I’m a video game geek, so when I think about increasing my F&B knowledge, I’m treating it in my brain as a +1 F&B Skill point for every new restaurant dish or cocktail I try. (Wow. That just gave me a great idea on how I should keep track of this…) The point is, I work in an industry that I realize I know very little about other than how to enjoy eating. I’m going to challenge myself to focus this year on slowly becoming a foodie. Perhaps I will not be able to speak at a level of a connoisseur or anyone that’s taken actual culinary courses, but my goal/hopes/dreams is that I can be an interesting person that can speak the language of food, beers, wine and spirits. Hopefully they are great conversation topics at parties. I believe at the last social gathering I went to, I ended up talking about my childhood playing SNES games for 2 hours. Yes – talking about food and wine should definitely improve my social skill points. +2 Charisma.
- Cooking – before moving out of my parents house, I had not owned a kitchen of my own in which to experiment with. That all ends this year! My goal is to cook at home at least 1-2 times a week. I’m starting off with a lot of simple recipes that involve pre-cut/prepped items, but I’m also on a time crunch with my after work hours. It’s been a really fun experience and I feel it’s been even better for me and my friends than eating out all the time. Cooking for myself has always been a dream of mine. Seeing the women in my family cook in the kitchen made it seem like I wasn’t ever allowed to learn about that stuff. But I’ve always enjoyed being around food as a creative art. Now it’s my turn to break stereotypes and prove that I can become an Iron Chef by the end of the year! Well, at least good enough to cook good food and take care of my potential future family. I want my future wife and kids to be excited of having daddy in the kitchen – not scared. +1 Cooking
- Fitness – this is on everyone’s list, right? Well it’s always been my dream to be awesomely handsome and good looking. I’ve grown up with a lot of insecurities in my life and being a scrawny Asian boy was certainly one of them. I’m looking forward to really stepping up this year and this being the year I can feel proud of myself and finally take my shirt off at the pool. My fitness efforts in the past 4 years – though light efforts have put me in a good place to do well this year. I’m banking on this year being the year and I just need to stick to some plans to do so. Encourage your friends. Having that peer pressure is a great motivation. My favorite motivation on getting fit is the idea of impressing the ladies… okay, unrealistic, but maybe once they see my new abs, they’ll bother to start a conversation with me? I’m planning on running the Disneyland 1/2 Marathon again this year. Something about footing that $150 registration fee that screams – alright, I’m going to have to actually do this. So I ran about 4 miles today and hopefully throughout the summer I’ll make it to 13 miles and some change. +1 Stamina.
- Friendship – spend more time with my friends and less time on the computer, watching TV, or playing video games (unless it’s social video game playing…). Sometimes work can get the best of us and we stop being human. We stop remembering that we have people around us that do care, but they may be so out of touch with you now because you’ve been so busy with work or school or other distractions. I’m going to make 2012 the year of true friendship and being present in people’s lives. Yes, it will help me find a stronger work/life balance – but mostly because that’s what I expect of others too. You see, I’m all about leading by example. We have a society where everyone is busy on their smartphones instead of sparking conversation because as a society we allow it to. I love KR’s article about not using your smartphone when around close friends. What is so important that it can’t wait? I’ll tell you what’s important – friendship! +1 Caring
I’m extremely guilty of not always following through with anything I say I want to do, but you can see how these four goals are actually very realistic and achievable. I hope that my friends and any readers will follow up on these 4 things with me. I hope that you too can think of some general life goals like I have that you feel 2012 can represent in bringing you closer to fulfilling some of your hopes and dreams.
Pretty soon, my dream of being an awesome home cook will be a reality!
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-Paul
Thanks for the motivation. A very good reminder to continue working on my personal goals.