Television // New Year Resolutions // Atomic Habits

What a month and a half it has been! I planned to make a consolidated year-end update like I usually do, but the time has just run out on me.

It was a combination of me being incredibly productive and also more of a couch potato. How has that been?

Well, I have been virtually traveling to Taormina, Italy, to spend time with the fantastic but flawed characters of The White Lotus.

When I wasn’t binge-watching that, I was watching the World Cup, hoping my favorite teams would make it. They didn’t, but it was such a wonder to watch Argentina lift the World Cup and see the sheer joy and relief on Lionel Messi’s face after a heartstopping final.

Apart from watching TV, I have been busy reading. I made significant inroads into Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy – a book I have been postponing all year. I don’t think I will finish it by year’s end, but it’s got to the point where I know I will finish it. No more false starts!

Another book that I read this month, and which has me in a contemplative mood, is Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear. I don’t typically read self-help, but this book got to me. It’s been an unsatisfactory couple of years (in terms of meeting my personal goals). I did OK (even good) professionally, but I am not happy with the toll it took on me. My exercise routine came to a standstill, stress skyrocketed, and my eating and sleeping habits were all over the place.

Atomic Habits has given me some insights and best practices that seem simple, easy to follow, and practical enough to be woven into my daily life. I have been journaling, keeping track of my habits, and focusing more on the minor tweaks I can make in my routine.

This past month, I have been feeling more productive, on top of things, and with a better work-life balance.

Next year, I plan to keep at it with the journaling – and continue focusing on task completion and improving my life’s overall quality. It seems like a massive undertaking, but I think I will be able to try my best using some of the tips I have picked up from this book.

I have even set my personal OKRs! Do you know your OKRs? Do you even know what OKR stands for? Sheepishly, until this year, neither did I.

But as the astute Antoine de Saint-Exupéry once penned:

A goal without a plan is just a wish

While journaling and copious listmaking are often worthy tasks, putting structure around your goals (something I learned over the last month) and documenting Objectives and Key Results can help me move the needle from planning to execution to success.

On that very corporate note, I leave you till the end of the year. In a few days, I will be heading off on vacation to Bali – a tropical paradise, which unfortunately seems to be in the middle of a thunderstorm. I am packing beach clothing, then unpacking them for regular clothing, and my house looks like a bomb hit it.

Still, thunderstorm or no thunderstorm, I am excited for this year-end break with the family (after almost three years of staying at home), and I am looking forward to a productive and satisfying 2023.

I wish you all Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a great 2023! See you on the other side!