Every year, come late November, I have twin pangs: “it’s about time to write a year-in-review post” and “ugh, am I really going to write a year-in-review post? Aren’t these the most self-indulgent things ever?”
And of course, yes, they are, in much the same way that I think lifting is self-indulgent or spending three years working on the proportions for your ideal margarita are self-indulgent. Indulgence is good when it hurts nobody and leads to joy!
The slow trickle of posts from folks I follow and respect in late December and early January are delightful, a sort of Advent Calendar of Content. And it has been fun to have some of my late-2020 RSS cultivation habits bear fruit: I discovered the majority of these through Feedbin, rather than Twitter.
My favorites:
But if the work of this year has taught me anything, it’s that getting something, anything out the door in time can make all the difference. Progress over perfection. One foot in front of the other. So here I am, telling an incomplete, imperfect, unsatisfying story, and sharing it with the world before it’s capital-R Ready. And that’s okay. I’ve still got my health, my loved ones, and the privilege of existence. That’s more than enough. Carolyn
This year, I asked myself on more than one occasion and in more than one context, "am I good enough to do this?" I don't feel sad or depressed about the shortcomings, but I feel I've grown in meaningful ways. I don't feel like this year was a "throwaway" or that I "lost a year"; instead, I feel exhausted from the constant refinement and metamorphosis. Jowanza
Moving a ratio, rather than moving some concrete number (like reading x books, or writing y posts), feels correct. Brian
2020 underscored my suspicion of year-long goals, as so much can change best-laid plans. In 2021, I’ll again stick to quarterly personal goals when aiming for something specific. That’s enough time to focus on a few priorities while remaining flexible. Melanie
Another important consideration is that 'hours spent on' is not a great measure of productivity - I want to achieve things and not just spend time doing busywork. Ala