A promise to being a better human.
We’ve all been through tough times in life. Times when you feel like the whole world’s running against you and you can’t seem to catch up no matter what you do. Times when you know you’re procrastinating but continue to do so anyway. Times when every decision you make turns out to be wrong and ends up biting you in the ass. It’s a complete mess and a slippery fucking slope into a black hole of self-doubt and stagnation.
I’ve been through it, and I’m sure you’ve been through it too. While it’s perfectly human to feel like that, wallowing in this cycle of self pity really sucks and can mess you up big time.
If there’s one rule you live by this year, make it the no zero day rule. Let 2019 be a year of no zero days. Repeat after me, 2019 is a year of no zero days because that shit is toxic.
What’s a zero day?
A zero day is when you don’t do a single fucking thing towards whatever dream or goal or want or whatever that you got going on.
-/u/ryans01
It’s really up to you to pick yourself up and make it be the un-norm (what?). You see, what’s more important is the ‘what comes after’ you feel like shit.
Do yourself a favour, stop everything you’re doing and start setting yourself some goals for the year. Well, not literally, it’s fine to give yourself a couple of days or a week.
Having these goals matter because the next time you’re cutting it close to having a zero day, you can pick yourself a goal and do something that takes you closer towards that target. It’s late at night and you’re on Netflix, turn that shit off and read two pages of that book you’ve been meaning to finish. Write a sentence. Do a pushup. You get the picture, do whatever it takes to make a zero day become a non-zero day. Because the longer and more consistently you can string together a bunch of non-zero days, the faster you’ll get yourself out of the hole and closer towards your goal.
My goal for 2019 is to be a better human. To me, this means:
– Being a product leader by having a product voice and reading more consistently
– Being a better speaker and writer by publishing more and speaking at events that matter
– Being proud of what my body is capable of by consistently working on my physical fitness
– Loving better by spending more quality time with family and friends
– Revisit being a musician by picking up the guitar again
What is your goal for the year?
2018 has been a year of great, and not so great. Great because I landed a dream job and accomplished what I’d set out to do for the year careerwise. Not so great because I ended up neglecting my health and physical well-being as a result of getting injured several times throughout the year. I hope this note inspires you the same way I hope it will inspire me throughout the year.
To an amazing 2019. Godspeed.
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This post is inspired by a post on reddit I chanced upon a few weeks ago, which was originally submitted by /u/ryans01, in response to /u/maxstolfe who was going through a tough time in life. It inspired me to the point of goosebumps. No matter what stage in life you’re in, I strongly recommend giving it a read.