Explorer, author, trail prospector & travel writer

2015’s Resolutions, Goals & Major Life Upheavals

Yeah, I know it’s a little late to be posting articles on New Year plans and resolutions. What can I say, I’ve been busy! (And that itself is something I want to change… on which more later.)

This is my third and final Annual Review post for this New Year. If you’re just arriving, first check out this post reviewing 2014’s successes and failures, and this post looking at how well I did keeping to last year’s resolutions โ€“ plus the effect they’ve had on the various aspects of my life.

In this post, I’m going to take the successes of last year, add in the changes I want to make going forward, and create the new resolutions and goals I’ll be using as guidance during the coming months.

I hope you’ll excuse the rather whimsical, personal nature of this process, and enjoy following it in the spirit of personal growthย and betterment. It only happens once a year, after all…

Travel & Adventure

Last year was a fulfilling one in terms of new places, new experiences and meaningful journeys.ย I spent almost 4 months on the road on a big variety of travels and adventures.

This year is going to be a little different.

In 2015 I will spend the entire year with no fixed abode. This year of travel and itinerancy willย include at least one bicycle adventure, and at least one adventure by a brand new means of transport.

I flew to Australia on New Year’s Day. I’ll be here until the start of March, then in London temporarily, and then… well, the options remainย open!

Within this general lifestyle shift, I’ll continue going on short, spontaneous adventures whenever the opportunity arises โ€“ and make more effort to generate such opportunities myself.

This is quite a big deal, of course, and thus worthy of its own blog post. More soon…

Blogging

In 2014 I published 90,172 words of new content on TomsBikeTrip.com, mainly in the form of how-to and advice posts.

I feel that the site is nearing saturation point when it comes to this kind of content, and so this year my focus will shift towards sharing news and stories from the broader community of bicycle travellers. My hope is that these stories โ€“ together with the existing resources โ€“ will inspire more people to get out on their bikes and see the world in 2015. Which is, of course, the whole point of this blog!

I’ll also be launching a new website as a hub for my growing number of projects, adventures and writings that are not directly bicycle-related, yet which are in growing need of their own outlet.

In terms of goals and resolutions, then:

In 2015 I will launch a new personal/professional blog by the end of Q1, and publish at least one new article a week on it from that point forth. I will continue to publish at least once a week on TomsBikeTrip.com.

Writing

One of the big successes of 2014 was my eBook, Essential Gear, in which I brain-dumped everything I knew on a very specific topic, then rewrote, edited and published the result.

It was hard work. But it turned out lots of people wanted this information, and it turned out I could avoid insolvency by publishing it โ€“ thus hitting my main financial goal for the year (i.e. don’t go bankrupt).

It was also a gratifying thing to write in a more timeless form than blog posts. So much blog content is relevant for only a few days or weeks before ‘going under’ and never being seen again.

There are a handful of topics on which I could write similar eBooks, and so โ€“ given the investment of a few weeks’ hard graft โ€“ it would be silly not to commit to writing another. Yet at the same time, I have missed the creative aspect of long-form travel writing. So while another ‘informational’ eBook is a good idea from a business perspective, from a creative oneย I would much prefer to be writing another taleย of adventure.

One of the most gratifying things about 2014 was working with other people on creative projects, and so this year I’m going to try that style of working with my writing resolutions too.

So…

In 2015 I will publish at least two new eBooks in the field of travel & adventure. At least one will be a collaboration. At least one will be the story of a journey.

Filmmaking

Although last year I did manage to produce and direct one film, things were still pretty thin on the ground in terms of actual, tangible results as a filmmaker. There is a short film of the Karun adventure doing the festival rounds this year, but it’s now more than two years since I actually finished making a feature-length adventure film.

It’s been a similar amount of time since I published a travel writing book, and I feel that this is all part of what you might call ‘second album syndrome’.

It seems you can hardly help perceiving your first major creative work as a magnum opus, the thing into which you’ve poured every ounceย of expressiveย energy you’ve been bottling up since you were born.

From there it seems to be a choice between two slippery slopes: a follow-up, in which you try to repeat the formula but it fails because it’s no longer the first time you’ve discovered this form of expression; or withdrawal, in which you spend the rest of your days hiding from the terrible possibilityย that nothing else you makeย will ever be quite as sparkling, meaningful and resonant as that first big thing.

I would like to believe that somewhere amid all that murk there is a third path. So my writing and filmmaking resolutions are both aimed at finding it:

In 2015 I will complete and release at least two of the feature-length adventure films sitting on my shelf.

Work & Life

Myย goals so far have either arisen naturally or been borne out of necessity. It’s the work-life resolutions that have been harder to pin down, as my extended wafflings last week may have demonstrated.

I identified that โ€“ as a self-employed person with an inefficient ’employer’ at the helm (i.e. me) โ€“ I spend way too much screen time on unproductive ‘work’, and that this lost time could be better spent on the things that I love, that have nothing to do with work, and which have increasingly become sidelined by my rubbishย working habits.

To fix this, I’ve decided to try the strategy of actively building non-work into my routine, with the theory that limiting my working time will force me to make it more efficient.

To that end, then, I have created resolutions around the things that matter to me. Broadly this is learning, but specifically reading books and learning new practical skills.

In 2015 I will read one book a week that has nothing to do with work. To hold myself accountable, I will write and publish a review of each of these 52 books.

I will also studyย one new skill each month that has nothing to do with work.

When I look at this coldly, it seems absurd that someone who loves reading would need to set themselves a target of one book a week. But then I remember that it’s no more or less absurd to set a target of working 40 hours over a 5-day period and then taking 2 days off in order to receiveย a fixed amount of money once aย month.

For billions of people, these invented time structures are entirely normal, and it helps them make sense of what they’ve chosen to spend their time doing. I don’t have that luxury. Butย why not apply the same concept to the things I’ve chosen to spend my time doing?

That’s it for this year’s Annual Review. Thanks for staying with me! Check back in… ooh, 11 months, say… if you’re interested to see how the year pans out.


Comments

11 responses to “2015’s Resolutions, Goals & Major Life Upheavals”

  1. Keith warner avatar
    Keith warner

    Hi tom,
    Hope it goes well for you,my resolution this year is to get on my bike and ride,so I’m in the process of selling stuff,quitting my job,I’ve set a date of 10th April,booked a flight to helsinki,from there it’s a tour of old communist Eastern Europe,oh and I’m 47 and this will be my first big tour! It’ll either work or it won’t.
    Keith warner

    1. That should be fascinating. Planning a Soviet-themed tour myself…

  2. Mike Greer avatar
    Mike Greer

    Good luck with Resultions for 2015 . I look forward to reading the results !
    As for being homeless I thoroughly enjoyed being just that from 2000 to 2008 . Travel ( in Europe ) hitching and bikeing . So good luck with the journeys that brings ! Enjoy ! Must admit to a touch of the GreenEyed Monster !

  3. Impressive stuff Tom. A book a week? I hope they’re Penguins! I must sat that this post resonates on a number of levels. Best of luck with all of your goals this year. Hope to see you in Clitheroe.

  4. Great post. Nothing like making a public statement to spur you on. My employer (Me) needs a kick up the arse.

    1. Absolutely. External accountability works wonders for motivation! (So far this month I’ve read 4 books and can sit, paddle, catch waves and just about pop up on a surfboard!)

      1. Happy surfing Tom. ๐Ÿ™‚

        1. Brilliant Tom, really well done. Sounds like you’re getting your work / life balance in order early doors… Read on!

  5. This was interesting reading as after almost 4 years away with no fixed abode I am back in the UK trying to sort out my stuff, both literally by rediscovering what I have in storage and deciding what to do with myself long term!

  6. Hope you have a great year Tom. I made the same reading related goal this year (a book a week), and I think it’s probably going to be the one I benefit from most. As with you, it’s about building structures into your life that help you do the things you want to do.

    I also sympathise with the need for a second blog. You a fairly prolific writer so I’m sure you’ll manage to keep two running as well writing the occasional book!

    Really looking forward to seeing what you get up to this year.

  7. I was actually amazed at how similar our goals were for 2015! I love the idea of the book club! I set the goal to read a book per month last year and I managed to exceed it so hoping to beat last years total! You’ve inspired me to start my own blog!

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