Quarterly Goals - March 2019

Phone Lock Screen Reminder; Source unknown.

My Goals Due March 2019

1. Draft 1 Shallow Seas
1. Shallow Seas is a working title for this Hero's Journey that steps off of Campbell's wheel at times because actions have consequences. Severe consequences.
   Have an outline (8500 words), but it needs much more. Finish the outline, finish the first draft. This I'll do by March.
2. Time Efficiency
1. I am unhappy wasting time. Right now chores and what I literally categorize as "waste time" take up anywhere from 40% to 50%, mainly resting in food prep, cleaning, and commuting.
   The goal here is to get that time to be less than one-third of my weekly spending. Moving to a new office five minutes away will help a lot, but more work might be needed (or in need of being cut) to achieve this outcome.
3. Be Assertive
1. Simply put, I'm too non-confrontational. It's literally my most recognized, positive trait. However, there's a darker side, too.
   
   A few events have happened in this last quarter where not practicing assertiveness has caused negative outcomes not only for myself, but for others. To reduce how I hurt others, I must serve myself with the favor of expressing directly my wants and needs. Here is where I'll start.
4. Voice Acting Credit
1. From last quarter, I have a demo reel. It should be changed, but I have the knowledge to do that, too. It's fun to make voices, to act with play emotion, and I will be unhappy to not have tried being an accredited voice actor, at least once.
5. Marathon Capacity
1. I want to be able to run a marathon. Do I actually need to compete in one? No. The goal is to be able to do a practice marathon (this is nearly universally not recommended), if not dip my toe into a competition this Spring.
6. Play Games
1. A very important conversation with a very important person helped me realize I need to enjoy life. From that, there are four areas I revel in, those being: Do well, daydream, be present, and serve.
   
   Games can accomplish two, possibly three, of those for me. Four, if by 'serve' means serving my future self, not burning out on the non-consequential tedium of the day-to-day, but to glory in this thing called life.
   
   How am I going to measure this? Not sure yet - heck of a SMART goal, right? But I will track time spent enjoying myself, possibly scheduling it in and defending it (#Assertiveness!).
7. Read
1. I've stopped reading. Yes, there are audiobooks, and yes, I browse articles and the like. But what of a thing I must take in with my eyes, to focus my hands and gaze and mind on?
   Books are going to start appearing at my bedside and novels will appear on my phone, accessible within two clicks. I will not give up on reading, nor, dare I say, should you.

Let's see about accomplishing more than 50% of these seven plans for myself. What do you want to give your future self?

Listening to Kaszimir's Flag while putting this together. While on YouTube, checkout Jenna Moreci, the inspiration for these quarterly goals.

Original photo; Source unknown.

P.S. Picked this quarter's image based on having a 'vision' of a new story premise, a combination of 1984 and Fahrenheit 451, the theme being that knowledge is a terrible thing. Robots, lots of fire, loss of innocence, sexy firefighters, the pitch may need some work :)

Quarterly Goals Recap - December 2018

Where have the three months gone!? Truly, time flies.

Just as truly, 2018 has been the year of self-discovery and definition. Between flexing my capabilities in software development, getting a better taste of project management, traveling abroad, writing, and putting pen-to-paper when it comes to what I want to accomplish in life, possibilities are both growing and solidifying.

Of the extreme danger of sounding more vague, simply put, I am.

Enough of that for now. Let's talk about what we set about to do three months ago and where we are now, three months hence.

What Were My Goals?

1. Stream 100 Days
1. Won. Verbatim, a stream didn't happen consistently for 100 days, nor did a schedule get strictly adhered to. Why? Two things: First, I liked engaging with viewers, but they weren't the reason I showed up on stream; they were a passive byproduct of me merely making public work that interested me. Second, spending two weeks in India with followup on either end of the trip put the nail in the coffin of "is streaming for me".
2. Voice Work
1. Failed. Did I learn how to voice act? Yes. Did I study, making a sample reel of voices? Yes. Did this get sent out, or myself apply to even gigs for free to try for accreditation? No.
   
   I really enjoy acting with my voice, so will I pursue more voice acting ventures? Most likely.
3. Creative Writing
1. Won. A story on my mind for awhile has been outlined. Certain fluid parts have solidified. That, and a balance-sheet of the stories I'd like to write has been put together. This sheet, which includes things other than writing, will be where future goals get drawn from.
4. Say No!
1. Failed. The (spectacular) failure here involves other people. I need to remove that weakness, being more assertive, and feeling more compassion for my future self more often than for the needs of others. Assertiveness is feedback from multiple folks in multiple scenes of my life, so there's something to it.

Despite having only four goals laid out this time, we're still 50% for success. Hey, at least I'm consistent!

What has been learned:

• Don't fear dropping an exploratory goal (eg streaming) early if it really does not click.
• Be assertive. Become more militant in protecting time.
• I like voice acting.
• I really like writing.
• I really enjoy putting together spreadsheets!

During the last three months, a balance sheet of life goals has been put together and quantitatively evaluated. My five purposes in life have been distilled into four. Four 'buckets' of enjoyment have also been defined, though singular activities from these buckets may need to be specified for time's sake.

But what's next? It's clear more 'me' time is necessary, as well as writing. Things for the day job may be considered, including scheduling time off work. Whatever happens, we'll see more in the next post. Cheers for now!

Quarterly Goals - December 2018

Getting down to business. Let's do it.

My Goals Due December 2018

Phone Lock Screen Reminder; Source unknown.

1. Stream 100 Days
1. Inspired by the likes Professor Broman and Gary Vee (both available in podcast format on Google Play), any work done ought to be documented. This isn't a new concept for a software developer like myself. However, the purpose is about the process - heck, anything that I do can be a stepping stone or learning experience for others.
   
   I'll be trying out places like Twitch, Mixer, and Facebook Live, doing things like playing games and learning how to do voice-overs. My gamertag account is RowmanSailor and will be used for all the testing, but I may move to the account GreyLibrary for broadcasting in the long term. (Can always abandon it if I don't feel keen on streaming.)
   But why 100 days? Because, on Twitch, if a person streams for 90 days, they are already in the top 20th or 10th percentile of all streamers ever. (It's a numbers game, folks.)
2. Voice Work
1. Strangers I meet will consistently comment on my voice. Can I refine that into something more? Maybe. This quarter is all about learning (I want to be a voice actor) and practice (talking while on stream, reading aloud stories and snippets, putting a demo together).
3. Creative Writing
1. Not sure if this will be followed-up on fully. However, it ties in nicely with the goal of voice work. It's always safe to read your own material online :)
   
   Whatever the case, writing is a creative fallback from both streaming and speaking.
4. Say No!
1. I've already messed this up at the time of writing as the quarter has already started a few days ago. Saying "no" is incredibly tough for me and it must not be.
   Let's see if I can do any better going forward, at least protecting a two hour time slot every morning to stream for  the next 100 days!

For any interested, I jammed to some epic Beethoven on YouTube getting these goals down and this post written. Again, this process of goal-setting come from YouTuber Jenna Moreci. If you would like to keep up with this process, check me out on Twitter @JimmyChattin.

The principle of this quarter's goals is to be epic like Lord Vader. Wouldn't you agree this is what we can all strive for?

Original photo; Source unknown.