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Who is doing a personal retrospective of 2021?


kye
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"What's the point of driving that fast if we were going in the wrong fucking direction"
- my vague recollection of a quote from the Gumball 3000 episode of Jackass when the team realise their short-cut is actually a dead end and that driving fast isn't the most important factor.

Like most years, I'm doing a personal retrospective of the year, and would encourage others to do so as well.

The purpose of this exercise is to get past the stories that we tell ourselves (white lies, if you will) and get to the truth of things, and learn and grow from it.  We all choose to focus on certain things and forget other things, always in our own favour, but that doesn't lead to facing up to our own shortcomings and overcoming them, that's just a form of denial.  It's normal, but as sentient beings, we can do better.  To refer back to the quote above, it's a way of realising we're driving in the wrong direction.

Rich people track and manage their wealth, Fit people track and manage their fitness, why not put a small amount of effort into reflecting on our lives?

It might be tempting to just say "2021 was fucked because of COVID" and just wanting to forget the whole thing.  I would suggest that makes it more important to reflect because we need all the help we can get in such situations, and it's also more valuable because when any COVID-like-substance hits the fan it reveals deeper things about us that wouldn't normally come to the surface, so there's more to learn than ever.

I enjoy detail and analysis, so get into it pretty deep, but it doesn't have to be.  It just requires that you are real with yourself.

I suggest contemplating:

  • What you spent your time on (it's our most valuable resource - look through your calendar if you keep one to get to the truth)
  • What you spent your money on (review credit card purchases, eBay / Amazon / etc purchase history, etc)
  • Where you got your money from and how your finances were tracking (bank statements, value of investments and assets)
  • What you spent your energy on (review emails, journals, blogs, vlogs, etc for the high and low-points, frustrations, etc)
  • What goals you have and what worked to get you closer to them and what didn't work

I also divide things into the following categories, which might overlap but are useful prompts:

  • Career
  • Business
  • Finances
  • Wealth
  • Assets
  • Family
  • Friends
  • Relationships (both with others and yourself)
  • Health (physical, emotional, mental)
  • Fitness
  • Fun and Toys (I like toys! I suspect most of us here are in the same boat with this one!)
  • Lifestyle
  • You can list any specific projects or goals separately, but I'd encourage you not to, as the goal is to have the nicest life and if something doesn't align with one/several of the above then why are you doing it?

I suggest writing things down, and doing it in two phases.  The first is gathering the info - what actually happened?  This is how we cut through some of the lies we tell ourselves and get closer to the truth.  Then second, review all the notes and contemplate what they mean.  

Once you collate all the facts it's hard to hide if you're spending too much or too little on some things, and where you actually get your money / energy / inspiration / success from.  If you run a business a good exercise is to see which clients generated the most income and which were the biggest PITA, you might find that there are clients that are huge pains but don't generate much income - firing them is an easy life upgrade!

Anyone else reflecting back?

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  • kye changed the title to Who is doing a personal retrospective of 2021?
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not really, no, its kinda depressing really. I'd rather 2022 hurry up and get here. Lots of things i could do better. Of that there is no doubt. New years resolutions and all,  i shall endeavor to do more with what i have. Next year will be more about caring for family and friends, where i can help. Cant save the world, but i can probably help some people who deserve it, in my books anyway.

  I haven't seen any input from @noone for a while, i hope he's ok. I think i may have,  even seen webrunner about again. I wish the rest of this community good health and prosperity, although i'd rather you don't confuse prosperity with wealth.

I think 2022 will be a tough year, i hope for the best  however i fear for the worst. whether your vacinated or unvaxed does not bother me. Its a deeply  personal decision, and for me a religious decision. 

I worked three days leading up to xmas which left me with some spending money, sadly i couldn't get into cinema as i'm unvaxed and new "laws" took effect that pay day. Its rather ironic that i can work, ern money, yet be unable to spend it. Which incidentally  doesn't really bother me. It certainly hurts small business owners as that money stays in my pocket. So in a round about way im richer for their efforts.  

Now that i have an iphone i have been binge watching stuff on my new amazon prime account. I ummed and arrrd about getting netflix, prime, or one of the others. the deciding factor for me,  was i have read the wheel of time novels and i wanted to see the amazon prime adaptions, so far im enjoying them. It certainly beats tv in some regards, not having to endure  6 advertisements every 5 minutes is breathtakingly refreshing. 

summing up, i hope santa was good to you, happy new year and stay safe as you can.

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Thank you both for your insightful writings. I am shy of introspective at the moment. So thank you for letting me relate to the important points and thoughts you mentioned, you both! What I can state is that I want to contribute some of my last years findings to this forum and to engage more into discussions and exchange with you guys.

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 Don't worry, i'm not much of a deep thinker.... although i do have an idea, a notion, even a concept perhaps. Its been bouncing around my head at the speed of light or whatever speed thoughts travel at for a little while now. Now seem like the  most opportune moment. Anyway without further ado, and before it reaches escape velocity 

 Over here we have had musicians band together ( no pun intended ) and  produce the music from the home front cd, which i supported by buying it.  The fact  that delta goodrem sang on it is totally irrelevant...

 Still it got me thinking. What if, as cinematographers and wannabe cinematographers, we collaborated together to produce something? At this point i'm going with something uplifting. Not much uplifting stuff out there at the moment, i believe we could / should improve on that situation. It would be cool to be apart of something bigger rather than just coasting along.

Thats my 2 cents worth, feel free to build upon my proposal as you wish.  

 

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16 hours ago, leslie said:

 

  I haven't seen any input from @noone for a while, i hope he's ok. I think i may have,  even seen webrunner about again. I wish the rest of this community good health and prosperity, although i'd rather you don't confuse prosperity with wealth.

 

 

Not much for me to say really.

Just an old amateur still shooter who rarely dabbles in video now.

More interested in what i can get cheap from the charity shop I work at now as a bit of fun.       A Canon FD 50 1.8 is a surprisingly sharp little lens.     Helios 44-M 6 is a fun little thing too. (along with a Tokina 28 2.8 they all cost me $40 total Australian in the last few weeks....The Helios came with a camera I donated back).

Still trying to sell my Canon FD 24 1.4 L (very frustrating because I see them selling now for sometimes over $21000 (Australian) for mint copies while lesser ones go for $6000 and up.     Mine is ratty on the outside but good on the inner but because I will not sell world wide, I will probably not get anywhere near that).   I am in no hurry to sell it though but would love to get a new AF portrait lens, a mid range zoom and a Laptop PC for it soonish

Seasons greeting to all and stay safe!

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3 minutes ago, noone said:

More interested in what i can get cheap from the charity shop I work at now as a bit of fun.       A Canon FD 50 1.8 is a surprisingly sharp little lens.     Helios 44-M 6 is a fun little thing too. (along with a Tokina 28 2.8 they all cost me $40 total Australian in the last few weeks....The Helios came with a camera I donated back)

Good to hear back from you, and i kinda hate you 😉

 Do you know what i have spent on lenses....

Its important to dabble, no matter what the interest is . I cant throw myself in at the deep end either anymore, i lack the enthusiasm.  I like to chip away at the edges these days, learn one thing, cement that away, then proceed to the next. 

I dont envy you, trying to move that fd lens on. It will probably take time too find the right buyer. 

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