Learning to tackle your life and work goals one resolution at a time, instead of battling to multitask, can free you to focus on that big, crazy hobby you’ve always had to put on the back-burner
For all that January buoyancy, the reality is that the vast majority of resolutions fall by the wayside by Valentine’s Day. The gyms empty out, the guitar whimpers in the garage… even the three minutes a day you need to get those six-pack abs on that infomercial device become too much.
And this holds true when it comes to those resolutions that apply to career and landing that dream job.
I’ve been guilty, too many times, of getting carried away in the New Year tsunami. I’ve prided myself on being able to take on challenging assignments, from studying to taking on a more senior role to fulfilling personal objectives. But the accomplishments just left me feeling hollow.
This decade will be different. I’m closing the multitude of tabs and snapping a laser sight on my career rifle. I aim to improve my output, target the assignments I find meaningful, avoiding burnout and – dare I say it? – lapsing into the mediocrity that can come with box-ticking.
It may seem odd in an era when multitasking is the order of the day, but research has shown that while our brain gets battered with 11 million pieces of information each second, it can only handle 40 at a time. That doesn’t leave you with much to work on when you consider all the slots taken up by The Witcher.
And so the people in white coats have also crowed about the benefits of taking on one thing at a time. Better retention of information, increased productivity, finding that elusive work-life balance and producing more impressive work. Phew! It’s a wonder more people haven’t latched onto the fabled “work smarter, not harder” strategy.
In the short time I’ve been focusing on my 2020 resolution – expanding my professional network, which I’ve neglected in previous years – I’ve already begun to realise these benefits.
I’m also in a position to enjoy my professional accomplishments without berating myself too harshly for failures. Writing purely for myself, in the form of praise notes and journal entries has given my professional outlook a lift.
The singular focus has also given me the time to follow Steve Jobs’ lead and take up a hobby entirely unrelated to my professional tasks. The Apple impresario studied calligraphy, a pastime he summed up as “not the most pragmatic” thing he’d done. However, the beauty of the written word would later have a big impact on the designs of the Cupertino tech giant.
Here’s hoping my foray into Kendo, or Japanese sword fighting, will have a similar effect on my professional destiny.
I took up this martial art in the hope of finding an accessible path to a more spiritual and focused life that didn’t involve sitting on a pew or dreamcatchers. Kendo can be physically taxing, but athleticism is only one element and doesn’t guarantee success. Which is a very good thing, in my case.
There’s a substantial psychological component, based on the principles of the samurai and bushido. I delight in the knowledge that it’s a sport that I can pursue well into my twilight years, still whipping young whippersnappers.
Participants are encouraged to approach the rigorous practices with a mix of enthusiasm and intense concentration. But the dojo isn’t the type of place to make you want to commit seppuku – in fact, such is the camaraderie that kendoka are all wearing big grins beneath the menacing body armour. Although it will be a few months to work my way up from novice to don the armour, I already have images of The Last Samurai in my mind’s eye.
Kendo’s like calligraphy – with a less-mighty pen.
So there you have it. Try waiting until you have one thing under your control, before beginning a second resolution. And yes, fine, you can even dig out the Ab-destroyer Supreme if you really have to.
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