Checking in on goals and the boys club
Giveon's album is the gift that keeps giving, and I stopped all my goals.
After spending much of my youth as a digital honey (Cheetah10130110 on AIM and Dizlildyme on Blackplanet/Myspace), I developed tendonitis from typing on the computer too much. I went to physical therapy for months, and one nugget I learned from my therapist was:
“Life happens as you were planning it.”
He said that because I told him my thoughts about when I would get married, but I’ve always used that gem, in a way, about the goals I set. After talking with my friend over the weekend about the progress we’ve made on the goals we set at the beginning of the year, I thought about this backstory. Until that conversation, I had not looked at my goals since I placed them in a Google Doc full of hope and optimism at the beginning of the year. I laid out goals I wanted to hit for life, career, health, and even this newsletter. Some goals I hit, but others, I completely forgot about. In my heart, I’ve always wanted to be the person who sets the goals, checks them off as the year treks along, and then does some journal entries at the end of the year to show gratitude to myself for all the goals I accomplished. I could say that it’s because of the pandemic that your girl fell off with the goals, but it’s really because I wrote them in a Google Doc and never actually revisited them to hit the goals, which led me to two discoveries.
Discovery #1:
I have too many systems. If you know me or have read the newsletter for a while, I’m the queen of productivity for people, not necessarily myself. I try everything: planners, Notion, Google Docs, TeuxDeux, Todoist, Asana, Trello, Microsoft Loop, Things, Any. Do, and honestly, I can go on and on here. My thought is I can’t recommend it if I haven’t tried it, but it often gets me in a trick bag. Thus, one of my goals for the remainder of the year is to stick to Apple Notes, Google Docs, Google Calendar, and the Reminders App if needed because your girl is exhausted.
Discovery #2:
Goals fall by the wayside for me because they are just goals and not habits. I have finally turned my fitness life into a habit because of the consistent routine, but for me, if it’s not a habit, I won’t do it. I am still learning more about habits, and like many people, I am still making my way through Atomic Habits by James Clear, but I haven’t hit a peak spark yet - I will report back.
This was all a long way to say how are you doing with your goals for the year? Have you accomplished any of them, and are you still tracking them? Let me know in the comments section below. If you need a little pulse check on them like me, here is the newsletter I wrote at the beginning of the year for some resources for setting goals and more.
In other news, here are a few things worth reading this week:
First, travel and Leisure released their list of the 25 Best Cities in the World, and I was surprised Oakland or San Francisco didn’t make the list. Yes, that’s a Bay Area girl note, but just saying, we all know that West Coast is the Best Coast.
As if you didn’t know, your digital self will outlive you.
“There’s a whole new era of planning that we will actually have to do around our digital footprint. We’re going to have to define in the future if we want a virtual entity of ourselves to live in the future.”
Here’s a cute little article about the creators of my current favorite TikTok trend, “He’s A 10 But.” Also, as a past cheerleader, I have always said that cheerleading should be a sport. But it’s a lot going on. I’ve been hit in the head, messed up my back, and even got my retainer stuck in the side of my jaw trying to catch a flyer that should’ve never been in the air (sis was 6’1, I think). This article looks at the complicated history of cheerleading and what it means to be a sport.
“Most women who are on collegiate cheerleading teams have been training since the age of 5. Most high schools consider cheerleading a sport. It’s a rude awakening.”
Lastly, here are a few things worth listening to this week:
Angie Martinez’s new podcast, Angie Martinez IRL, launched this week, and she interviewed Lauren London. As you’d expect, it was a great conversation. Angie talked to Lauren about life, her lessons from losing Nipsey Hussle, and more. If you enjoy this conversation with Angie and Lauren, I would also suggest listening to Jay Shetty’s interview with Lauren from a few months ago. They talked about her upbringing, faith, loss, and more in that conversation. I loved both conversations.
I swear Giveon’s new album Give Or Take is like the gift that keeps giving. Whenever I think I have found the song I love, I play another song, and it takes the cake. Two weeks ago, you’ll remember it was “Lost On Me,” and now, I’m stuck on “Let Me Go.” MAN, a vibe. A vibe.
Additionally, I am hooked on the new Brent Faiyaz album, WASTELAND. I am woman enough to admit I have spent years talking shit about Brent. I said his vocals aren’t great and that only basic people enjoy his music. I still wouldn’t know he has D’Angelo-ish vocals, but I enjoy his voice, and honestly, since I’m becoming a fan, perhaps I have a little basic in me (although I would argue everyone has a basic itch at times). So do yourself a favor and listen to the album and let me know what you think.
In music, I’m not feeling I would add Burna Boy’s new album Love, Damini. When I learned that he would be releasing a new album, I was hype because I thought it would be one of the albums of the summer, but it’s giving…. boring. My friend and I talked about it, and both agreed it’s giving dentist elevator music. However, there was one gem on the album “Solid” featuring Blxst and Kehlani.
My final Note in the World of music is that one of my favorite groups, Hablot Brown, are finally releasing their self-titled debut album on August 5th. If you’re unfamiliar, enjoy the two videos below featuring my favorite songs by them. I saw them in DC before the pandemic started when they were touring with Honne. Such a good show. I lost my voice from all the singing I was doing.
That’s it for this week.
Special Note: I will be changing the cadence of this newsletter to biweekly. If you think you will miss me in your inbox weekly, please consider converting to a paid subscriber. I’m offering a discounted rate now, but let me tell you, there will be a weekly playlist, many gifs, and other things.
Too many systems! I hear ya.