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Happy New Year HN! What are your plans for the new year?

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211–220 of 297 posts

Re: Happy New Year HN! What are your plans for the new year?

#211

1. Eat decently (drink more water, no sodas, no deep fried potatoes of any kinds, and no sweets. I already don't drink alcohol or eat gluten) 2. Hire a regular online personal trainer that fits my schedule. Upwork is surprisingly a good source for this. 3. Launch a new software product of my own (not client products) 4. Strive for Buddha-like attention and patience with my kids All are really "live a happier life" go…

Gluten isn't really a problem for most people, only those who are specifically intolerant of it. Or has that thinking changed?

People's beliefs on this topic are extremely divergent. I personally have developed a sensitivity to gluten so I really have no choice, but I also happen to believe it is bad for your long-term health.

Re: Happy New Year HN! What are your plans for the new year?

#212

Consume less = exclude myself from certain kinds of social relationships with other people, show less appreciation to the labor of inventors, engineers and people who make stuff with their hands (appreciation in action, not just in words)? Everyone is entitled to live the way they prefer (within certain limits), of course! :) But I would want to “consume better” instead of “consuming less”. Consume things made sustai…

Yep. My hobbies are very low energy and inexpensive, but I end up spending a decent amount of money and energy in traveling. I want to cut that down substantially starting starting next year.

Re: Happy New Year HN! What are your plans for the new year?

#213

I recently read Atomic Habits by James Clear, and also listened to some process philosophy from Steven West's Philosophize This. One takeaway that I had was on the danger of setting goals. I am trying to build a mindset of 'becoming' or to embrace the journey of the goal rather than really trying to achieve a specific milestone. - I want to reduce/eliminate my alcohol consumption to become a person that doesn't rely…

I really like this idea of "becoming" / "embracing" versus trying to achieve a specific end. As the adage goes, it's all about the journey, not the destination.

I'm trying to do something similar. I have this terrible habit--that I suspect many, many people also do--of thinking that "future me" will be far more capable than present me, that in one year I'll be less anxious, more courageous, less fearful, more outgoing, etc.

(On a smaller time scale, people who struggle with kicking bad habits do the same thing, myself included. I will tell myself, "starting tomorrow, I will once and for all stop {drinking too much soda, eating too much}!" Tomorrow-Me is Hercules, with the willpower of Zeus and the indomitable spirit of a world-class athlete. Of course I end up spending tomorrow drinking soda like a fish drinks water, only to tell myself that "tomorrow will be different.")

Inevitably what ends up happening is that one year from then I'm still the same person, and all I have done is kick the can down the road on so many opportunities--the party I didn't go to because I didn't know anyone; the lunch I made an excuse to skip because I was embarrassed that my old friends were farther along in life than I was (whatever that even means); the interview I turned down because I "wasn't ready yet." While doing these things, I told myself that some indefinite period from now, I'll be this perfect human who is ready to do all of those things, and that right now I'm a flawed person who isn't ready to do those things just yet.

But that perfect human never came to be, and the flawed human is what remains. It's tautological to say this, but nothing changes if nothing changes. I won't be magically courageous or outgoing one year from now if I don't actually embrace the nervous and shy person that I am today. And I hope that if I embrace it, accept that I'll fall and stumble, and try to make little progress along the way, then one year from now I can look back and say, "I'm still not a perfect human and never will be, but I'm satisfied that I did ___."

Re: Happy New Year HN! What are your plans for the new year?

#217
2022 marks a shift for me from industry software engineering to research. I’m hoping I get accepted to a PhD program but if not I will likely leave my cushy job and spend time some getting myself into computer science research (being broad on purpose).

All in all, I’m really excited for next year. I feel good about where I am in life in most facets.

Happy new year to you and everyone else around reading this as well! I hope the next year has some joy for everyone!

Re: Happy New Year HN! What are your plans for the new year?

#218
Happy new year everyone. Here are some of mine:

1. Be the kind of a person to read books(focus on reading instead of playing).

2. Read Japanese. I'm okay at it but I have spent 2 years without using it at all.

3. Get good at programming. I have never gotten far, stuck in tutorial hell. But I aspire to manage it this year.

Re: Happy New Year HN! What are your plans for the new year?

#219

2022 marks a shift for me from industry software engineering to research. I’m hoping I get accepted to a PhD program but if not I will likely leave my cushy job and spend time some getting myself into computer science research (being broad on purpose). All in all, I’m really excited for next year. I feel good about where I am in life in most facets. Happy new year to you and everyone else around reading this as well!…

Sounds great! I do applied research in industry and love it.

Any interests you’re looking to pursue?

Re: Happy New Year HN! What are your plans for the new year?

#220

I recently read Atomic Habits by James Clear, and also listened to some process philosophy from Steven West's Philosophize This. One takeaway that I had was on the danger of setting goals. I am trying to build a mindset of 'becoming' or to embrace the journey of the goal rather than really trying to achieve a specific milestone. - I want to reduce/eliminate my alcohol consumption to become a person that doesn't rely…

I and my SO have found that identity based habits work out way better. I recommend it
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