Skill development and thoughts for the future (116)

Focus for the week

Skill development and trying to set clear objectives for work sessions. I want to know that I have improved at x skill. This is difficult because minor improvements are imperceptible at the time. I will only notice when I have stacked all of my wins. In practice, this looks like keeping a certain goal in mind at jiu-jitsu (a certain move or position) so if someone asks what I am working on, I have an answer and we can work on it toghether. This is also true at work and in my personal life, I want to be getting better at something daily. Some ideas I have currently are: understanding HVAC thoroughly (too vague) and doing a handstand for 30 seconds.

I am also thinking about my goals for 2025. Referencing a past newsletter where I talked about forming habits, I am planning ‘bare minimum’ goals for each of the habits I am trying to form. I am also planning various events throughout the year so I have lots of stuff to look forward to (such as physical/ cognitive challenges, travel, and events). Is it good to always look forward to something? I think it is, as long as you can still be present and live in the moment in your day-to-day life. The future event is just something to keep you excited for and pepper the year with memorable experiences. The slippery slope to avoid is the mindset of thinking that you will change when the thing happens, or delaying something until after a certain date. It can be fun to have things to look forward to, but you cannot always be living for the future.

What I’m Reading

I am still reading Principles by Ray Dalio and slowly starting to write down principles to govern my own life. He is convincing me that having principles helps make good decisions, and even when they lead to poor outcomes, you just have to refine the principles for a better result the next time something comes up.

Have a great week :)

Lucas