On January 1 of this year, I had published my list of new year resolutions for 2022. Every year, I make a list of new year resolutions. The difference this year is that I had made a promise of reviewing the progress publicly at end of every month. This way, I am not only accountable to myself but to you as well. More importantly, this practice of monthly reviews helps me to stay in touch with my goals.
In this monthly review, you will see both positive developments as well as failures. I’m laying things out honestly. There’ll be no sugar-coating.
Build a 3rd Farmhouse at Vaksana Farms: We have hired an architect to do the designing of TANG. That’s the name of the new farmhouse. It has a fruity name because it is in the middle of a fruit forest. The architect has started work on designing the layout. We are currently in frequent discussions to fine-tune the layout. The architect has also started working on the 3D walkthrough video which will give a realistic impression of the farmhouse.
Learn to Swim: I’ve bought swimming goggles, a cap and shorts. Enquired and finalized the swimming pool in Chennai that I will be joining. For most of January, I have been at my farm and hence couldn’t join the classes. However, there’s YouTube. I have been watching tutorial videos on swimming. Luckily, we have a good pond at the pond and have been going there to practice. Not making much progress and I definitely need a coach to help me correct my form.
Learn to Meditate: I bought a premium subscription to Headspace, a highly recommended app for guided meditation. Fixed time in afternoons to do the meditations.
Synopsis of Books I Read: I have created a section on my personal website for jotting down the synopsis (actually points that resonated well with me) from the books I’m reading. It is at www.Kiruba.com/read . This idea is inspired by Derek Sivers, one of my favourite authors, who has a really good habit of note-taking.
Albumize All Photos: I have taken zillions of photos and they are safely backed up on Google Photos. However, they are not categorized properly. Even though I have been meaning to properly organize the photos in folders, I was never able to get around to it. So, I smartly outsourced this activity to my younger daughter. This is a paid activity and the money will go into her savings. She is doing a much better job than I could.
Flat Tummy: Apart from daily farming activities (which are quite strenuous), I did not do any physical exercises especially to reduce my tummy. Must change this in February.
Grow Bees: I’ve bought one bee box and the bees are super active. Very fulfilling to watch this. With the success of the first bee box, I have placed an order for 5 more bee boxes.
Failure is Fuel Project: We had our first meeting with the organizers and chalked out the plan of action. Built the alpha version of the website for the project.
Co-organize College Reunion: Had an initial round of discussion with the key people who are enthusiastic about organizing. There is favourable sentiment among the college gang. The alumni get-together is planned for December 2022.
Write Down My Fears: I have made a start in jotting down all my fears. I will continue to keep building on this. The next step is to take a fear one by one and get to the bottom of it. Keenly figuring out the source of the fear is a good way to seek help in overcoming it.
Continue to Refrain from Alcohol & Meat: This has now become too easy. This has now become a permanent life change.
Hire a Professional Coach: I did reach out to professional coaching organizations. I find them very overpriced for me as most of them put me in the CEO category. For someone who is just getting warmed up with professional coaching, I prefer taking measured, careful steps.
Hire a Personal Assistant: I didn’t make any headway at all on this goal in January. Need to prioritize in February.
Learn Snake Rescue: My Dad bought a snake catching tool for the farm. This is step one in snake rescue. Happy to let you know that we were able to save the life of a rat snake ( a non-venomous snake), thanks to the tool. Otherwise, the folks on the farm would certainly have killed it.
Stay and Learn from 12 Amazing Farms: Visited a good farm near Mahabalipuram and have lined up one more farm for February. I’m really looking forward to picking up best practices and applying them at Vaksana Farms.
Action Atomic Habits: We had a joint family discussion with my wife and two daughters on the book. Each of us brought out key points that spoke to us personally. It was a good discussion and happy that the girls are exposed to the book.
Journal Every Day: I use the hashtag #DailyDiary on my Gmail to jot down everyday happenings and capture my emotions. It has been quite cathartic. I need to expand on this goal by doing longer, deeper insights via writing.
This is the first in the #BloggingChallenge series where I aim to blog every day in February. This is a challenge I’m jointly doing with my friend Amar Vyas who initiated the idea.
