2018 in review: How I lived a fulfilling year
Do you believe in “New Year, New Me”? It is something that people say every year in January even though they know full well they are going to fall back into their old habits and neglect their resolutions.
Or are you one of those people who don’t even bother setting any goals exactly because you know you won’t follow through?
There have been years when I did the former, and there have also been years when I did the latter. But not in 2018.
What if I told you there is another way? That you can have a fulfilling life, and the new year happens to be a good time to start doing so? In fact, NOW is always the best time — regardless of when you’re reading this post!
Why did I choose to live a fulfilling life?
At the start of 2018 I got myself a passion planner. It’s not just any planner – it’s laid out in a way that helps you set goals for the year and work on them with weekly and monthly reflections.
I have to admit that I wasn’t able to stick to using it for the whole year, but what I found the most helpful was the initial task that came with it: the passion roadmap.
For five minutes, imagine that this piece of paper is magical; whatever you write in it will come true within the designated time frame. Think of it as a wish list describing your ideal life. Ask yourself:
“If I could be anything, do anything, or have anything, what would it be?”
Write every single thing that comes to mind and be as specific as possible. Do not feel the need to be realistic or justify your dreams. Just write.
Ready? Set. Go! Let me give you 5 minutes to actually think about your dreams.
When I did this exercise in January 2018, the first thing that came to mind was my childhood dream to become a singer or a guitarist in a band. Haha, so funny, I thought. I used to sing in a school choir but I was never any good, couldn’t read music (still can’t!), didn’t get through my university choir audition even though they said most people with singing experience would pass (so yes I was bad) and never sang in front of other people ever again. I also tried picking up a ukulele in 2013 but gave up quickly enough.
But this dream did come to mind, and according to the instructions I had to write it down. Within those 5 minutes I also wrote down a few other things including building my own app/game, public speaking, cosplay, photography, building a healthy lifestyle, finding the love of my life (cheesy, I know, but the instructions!), and knowing myself better. These goals are spread across different timelines from 3 months, 1 year, 3 years and a lifetime.
Next, you are to prioritise a few goals that would have the most positive impact on your life, and create detailed action plans in order to achieve each one. You’re also meant to focus on something specific each month, week and day with regular reflections, and refresh your passion roadmap at mid-year.
This is not a sales pitch for the Passion Planner — although you are most welcome to buy a copy should you feel that it would help you. However, the mechanism of setting out your goals, breaking it down into actions and building new habits are key in achieving a fulfilling life.
I was inspired to actually work on my dreams instead of just calling them new year resolutions but not doing anything about them. Let’s admit it, after all that, how could you not want to achieve at least one of those goals?
Why did this work?
Every person is different. Some people will find this exercise extremely useful, some other people will prefer working on just one goal at a time rather than getting themselves overwhelmed with a massive list and realising how far of a journey they have to make.
However, I found the passion roadmap exercise so powerful because:
- It reminded me of dreams buried deep in my consciousness. Childhood dreams that I would never have thought about ever pursuing in my adulthood. Dreams that otherwise would have been forgotten.
- It helped me put unrealistic dreams back into the picture. Dreams that I keep telling myself are not possible to achieve because of this and that, because of silly reasons and excuses.
- It gave me a bigger overview of the different things I could be doing in life. Instead of, or alongside each other. A reminder that we do not live our lives only to work, eat, sleep on repeat.
Remember, ultimately the choice is in your hands. I could have completed this exercise and decided not to do anything about it. In fact, after a couple of months I decided to stop writing in the planner, mostly out of laziness and because I couldn’t be bothered bringing the book with me everywhere I travelled. However, it was enough for me to build a system that helped me pursue my goals.
I made a conscious decision to follow my passions. Do you want to live just for the sake of living and getting by, or do you want to live a fulfilling life?
How did it turn out for me?
My life has changed so much in the past year that I wrote a separate blog post about it here <TODO: insert link>. Please check it out to see the wonderful things I have been up to, in the hope that it will inspire you to work on your dreams.
In summary, I have made incredible progress towards some of the goals that I had written down.
- I took singing lessons from March till September and have mustered enough confidence to sing in front of other people, so much so that some people commented that I have a good and strong voice. I also picked up a ukulele in December and hope to continue practicing both singing and playing the uke in order to be able to perform at open mic nights and other opportunities.
- I unexpectedly fell in love with comedy and started doing improv theatre.
- I have spoken at four tech conferences across the UK and Ireland within the year.
- I gave yoga a try, but only in the past few months started building up a gym routine and my overall health has since improved.
- I have learned more about myself, but still with lots to discover and learn.
You could probably tell that some of the goals in my passion planner have progressed at different rates, but some others have been neglected and I have also picked up new goals along the way. This is completely fine because we as people do change throughout the course of our lives, and it is always in our power to direct which way we go next as long as we are making a conscious decision.
What if I hadn’t chosen to live a fulfilling life?
If I could be honest, I owe it to the Passion Planner for helping me live 2018 the way I did. If I hadn’t picked it up, I probably wouldn’t have mustered up the courage to pursue singing or any other creative avenues because I was 100% convinced I’m not a creative person. It also definitely helped me figure out how to achieve goals that at first seemed unattainable.
Would I have been fine living my old life? It wouldn’t be the end of the world, that’s for sure. I would still have a good job, something to keep me busy outside of work, and a circle of friends. However, there’s something about being able to work towards something that you really love and enjoy — a feeling of satisfaction and excitement that you won’t get any other way.
Two years ago, I didn’t really know what my hobbies were. I liked cooking, travelling, watching TV, playing games. But could I say that I love doing these things? Was I even doing them because I wanted to, or just out of routine, or because of other people? Well, I can now confidently say what my hobbies are and actually get super excited about them, because I’m actively pursuing my passions!
Do you want in? Here’s how YOU can live a fulfilling life:
- Have an understanding of what you want out of life, no matter how unrealistic. It’s never too late to work on your passions. If you were to die tomorrow, what will you regret not ever doing?
- Take actions towards your dreams. If needed, work backwards: imagine yourself having achieved those dreams and someone asking you how you got there. What were the steps involved?
- Surround yourself with people that help you grow. Sometimes this means distancing yourself from family or friends who do not support your dreams. You might also have to start out on your own, but trust me, there are good people around you, it’s just that you have to open up and look out for them.
- Allow yourself to be vulnerable and step out of your comfort zone. Mistakes will be made, failures will get in the way, but that is exactly how skills are gained and talents are developed. Sooner or later, you will get there through consistency and persistence.
- Finally, decide for yourself: are you content with living life just for the sake of living, or do you want to achieve more and have a fulfilling life?
If I can live a fulfilling life, why can’t you?
