Refine. Refine. Refine.
Always refine your long-term goals, especially as you develop the focus to hone in on the ones that make you easily rise from bed, having you excited to get to work.
What does refine even mean?
“to improve or perfect by pruning or polishing” - According to Merriam Webster.
Refine is a word that has been bouncing around my head more and more… as I reflect on the present projects I am striving towards. In today’s newsletter you will see why..
I have grown accustomed to realizing that in order to survive and thrive in pursuit of our goals, it is imperative that we always refine our goals.
Making our goals more specific and concrete overtime, will only make it easier to achieve progress in our daily actions towards the long-term.
This week I will discuss why I am, yet again, deciding to refine my long-term ambitions into a more specific plan.
Dare I say, I am getting closer to turning my dreams into a reality?
Last week, I wrote about the ways in which publishing a weekly newsletter acts as a forcing function relating to our ambitions and actions towards our goals.
“A newsletter is a forcing function for: making power moves, establishing deadlines, idea generating, completing tasks as well as, at times, reshuffling our priorities.”
Writing each week on the things we are working towards makes us view our long-term goals more presently oriented (i.e., what action to take today?). Especially if you make the commitment to publish consistently as well as learn publicly.
Yet again, as a result of my weekly newsletter deadline arriving, followed by some longer-term countdowns coming soon.. I am going to refine the personal projects I am working towards.
Specifically, I am going to refine the declaration of my goal of creating a podcast by the first day of fall. I must admit this deadline I gave myself came up rather quick, as there are 13 days remaining until the release.
“As far as all of these details go (podcast-related) , I will make a declaration today by stating that this will all be figured out by the first day of fall: on Wednesday, September 22nd, 2021.” - “Doubling down on yourself” written on 5/13/21.
Bear in mind, I have also set the goal in creating my debut album as a musician. For this goal, I have 109 days remaining until the release.
“It is my intention to release a new album filled with original tracks by my 26th birthday: December 27th, 2021.” - “The Power of a Countdown” written on 7/29/21.
This is a huge load, especially given how quick the time has come and gone in placing the special attention towards these goals.
Here is the meat and potatoes of the idea I am seeking to express to you this week.
YOU CAN STILL HAVE INTEREST IN A GOAL, WHILE OPTING TO NOT PURSUE IT AT THIS TIME.
Having some much needed time away from the matrix (i.e, spending time learning, plugging away and iterating/creating on the internet)… I have come to a realization:
I have realized that, yes, building for the long-term is wonderful. However, daily actions are needed to bring these goals forth to reality.
There is still room for more specification as it relates to my long-term goals, especially as it relates to what actions are needed from me in the short to mid-term.
Realizing that okay… this podcast release date I laid out (September 22nd).. is thirteen short days away from being here.
Have I put in the necessary work to release a podcast by this date? No.
Is releasing a podcast a goal that excites me at the rate it did when I initially established it? No.
It is for this very reason: that I am going to declare that I am no longer pursuing the goal for a September 22nd podcast launch.
No, it is not a matter of no longer being interested in creating a podcast.
I will instead opt to double-down on creating my debut album, taking this on as a full-time endeavor. Rather than following through with a couple of half-assed projects.
This is a decision that is being made entirely due to my infatuation and motivation to tell everyone and their grandmother about the pursuit of my passion project: creating a debut album. Because if I don’t do it now… will I ever do it?
One really excellent, carefully thought-out project is much more worthwhile than pursuing two completely new ventures at once… as this enables focus and is a curation of our attention.
Come to think of it, when I initially made the declaration of creating a podcast… I never even had the goal set of creating an album by December 27th.
Goal Congruency
Taking the time to reflect weekly on my passion projects, as well as latest intellectual interests.. has created an ability that has directly impacted my attentional landscape in a more refined way. Increasingly, my long-term goals are developing congruency more directly towards my passions.
This is why my #1 focus until it’s release date, is in creating a debut album that will be made available on all music streaming platforms.
Why?
Let’s admit it. Every single day we are faced with a time crunch.
We each have 86,400 seconds at our disposal everyday. It is how we use these seconds (i.e, our time) that defines who we are.
Looking to become a painter? Hone in your craft and start painting.
Looking to become an crypto educator? Hone in on developing content, while also enriching your knowledge on that realm.
Looking to become a musician? Work on that damn debut album, and stop giving yourself additional assignments.
There is only so much time to chase our dreams.
The further we push our VERY LARGE GOALS out into the future such as releasing a full-length album… creates a position in which we are less likely to make it happen.
The closer we bring our VERY LARGE GOALS into the present, by taking daily actions towards them… the closer we are to make it actually happen.
A previously set intention is not a lost intention.
The beauty of deciding to focus all of my energies on the project of creating a debut album for a set period of time… is that it enables me to pursue this one goal more meaningfully.
This doesn’t mean, however, that all the work and dedication I had in conducting research towards creating a podcast has gone to waste.
As for when that wondrous time does come (post-album): I still by all means, can pursue creating a podcast. And I more than likely will.
Besides, at that point, I will be a musician who has come off of his debut album release… who (intentionally) developed an increasing amount of connections within the music industry.
This newsletter is my graduate school. I am pursuing my self-educated credential by creating the learning artifact of a debut album.
The act of pursuing one’s passion vastly outweighs any institutionally issued credential.
The act of publishing our progression of thought on a weekly basis, is a far more worthwhile endeavor than a degree.
The act of building a music career in public is a public good.
This pursuit is beyond words.
Cheers to lifelong learning,
Adam Bartley
PARTING NOTE
If you're enjoying “The Freelance Graduate Student” newsletter, I would really love it if you shared it with a homie or two. You can send them here to subscribe. I try my very best to put out creative ideas each week, and I hope you have as much fun reading them as I do writing them.
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