Another year in the books! One of fruitful manifestations and grateful realizations. Another year of discovering love and enduring loss. One whole year filled with three-hundred and sixty-five days for us to each take part in this thing we call life! I marvel at its pace – its jazz-like rhythm and natural mystique. It feels like an orchestra playing completely in unison. It knows when to speed up and when to slow down. It knows when to keep quiet and when to get loud, and just when you think you found its groove, it switches in a heartbeat. I’ve found that these “tempo-tides”, if you will, come mostly unannounced. You never know what to expect or how it will come, and though it can be off-putting, I’ve found that the unpredictability of these so-called “tempo-tides” are inherently a part of their charm.
This past year, I started studying day trading and something that I learned early on is that the stock market is full of highs and lows. In order to combat these peaks and valleys, I’ve been advised that it’s best to set up systems to facilitate success rather than goals you’d like to achieve. Having said this, it is important to differentiate the two. Goals are targets that we aim for, while systems are what allow us to hit those targets. It’s great to have goals and some may even say necessary in order to stay on path, but to focus only on the goals can ironically result in non-productivity. If you become too goal oriented, you may end up placing too much importance on whether or not you reach them, causing you to become arrogant if you do or paralyzed if you don’t.
Admittedly, creating productive systems can be a difficult task. As days become months and months become years, the discipline to sit down and do what needs to be done (whether it’s writing, practicing an instrument, or staring at my running shoes for three hours before actually putting them on and going for a run) must be rooted in something. At the end of last year, there were a number of things that I wanted to make happen. Some of it was career related, other things were personal and as I pursued these goals, I knew that If I could just do a little bit each day, that eventually it would add up. A system for me meant routine. A regimen that bolsters stability on a rocking boat. When the tides of an ocean begin to clash and the waves start to grow, we need a way to find peace in the storm. After two years of a tumultuous and unprecedented pandemic, I can say that 2022 is the year that this sentiment was fortified.
The end of the year is a time for reflection and setting goals, but it is also a time for looking ahead and creating systems that set ourselves up for success. I pray that as we move forward into the new year we are able to find the balance between pursuing our goals and creating our systems. While my inner child revels in the unpredictability of a heedless adventure, I believe it’s also important to find joy and purpose in working through the mundanity of an ordinary day. It’s seemingly paradoxical, I know, but it is the paradox that I’m pointing to!