|OT| A New Decade, A New Me and You!

[Le Pertti]

Starting a new decade can be a good time to take stock on your life and see if you are doing things in life that you would want to do. So I thought it would be nice to have a thread where we can share how we want to change, what we want to do, places we want to visit, things we want to learn. A thread where we can help each other with the things, give advice and maybe even join in on a journey.

If I can request one thing, it's that try not try shoot down someones wishes, tell it's a bad idea(even if it is) or stuff like that.



For me, starting next year and for the next 10 years I will go for these things:

• Find someone to start a family with. I'm kind of late to this party so I should have this going already next year!
• I will try to cut back on empty entertainment and distractions. Mostly it will be youtube and podcasts I cut out, I will still game but I will have a "only after dinner" rule. If I want to game before I have to make the game myself. If I want to youtube for anything other than learn something concrete I have to make the youtube myself.
• Figure out how to have my first patreon! Being a photographer today is pretty impossible so I have to figure out how to sell myself as the product. That means increasing Instagram followers or find an alternative since instagram is dead for photographers that aren't already famous.
• I want to learn programming. No idea what or how. I guess this is also tied to making a game. If I've had the same dream since I was in my teens it feels I should just fucking do it already.
• Become healthy, I know this is one of those new years classics, but I am already doing this but I just need to be better at it. I wont my children see a fat old man be their father!
• I need to be more social! Science isn't lying about this, being alone and isolated is pretty much the worst to your health. So I need to find some friends that aren't all over the world. Right now I have my friends spread all over the world and I never see them.

How about you?

 

[Parsnip]

Health is number 1 on my list, but this year I have a bit of a headstart at least since I've been doing some alterations to my awful diet so maybe I'll manage to stick to it a bit better this time around.

Secondly I really want to get my game in a state I'd feel good showing it to people. I've started and restarted the project so many times at this point that I feel like I just need to finish it even if it's not exactly what I want it to be. Since there's no outside pressure to ship it I'm afraid I'll just keep tinkering with it for forever.

 

[Panda Pedinte]

Nice idea!

I dont have a good idea about what I want for the next decade, so those may sound a bit generic:

• Being a good father;
• Taking care of my health and exercising more;
• Getting a promotion or a new job

 

[NarohDethan]

Great thread

• Get fit. Not ripped but fit.
• Learn German
• Retake my Japanese lessons
• Get an apartment
• Get a vasectomy
• Keep gaming like a motherfucker.
• Learn to dress better.
• Have no consumer debt
• Maybe get a master's degree.

 

[crimsonheadGCN]

1. Find a better job.
2. Become physically and mentally healthy.
3. Pay off my debt.
4. Help others.
5. Go back to school.
6. Find love and new friends.

 

[NarohDethan]

1. Find a better job.
2. Become physically and mentally healthy.
3. Pay off my debt.
4. Help others.
5. Go back to school.
6. Find love and new friends.

7. Find you a better tag

Best wishes for you this year

 

[crimsonheadGCN]

7. Find you a better tag

Best wishes for you this year

Thanks <3

 

[Le Pertti]

First morning trying to do the changes, like the no gaming until after dinner and I have to say life sucks! Haha, I used look forward to my mornings with coffee and gaming and now I'm already bored out of my mind. But that is the point, to get rid of distractions and be bored, so it can lead to being more productive.

 

[C-Dub]

I generally don't like to do these things because I never stick to them, plus I do my own goals in my own time, but I'm at a place now where I want more simple things out of life. I'm doing pretty well career-wise, in 2018 I bought a flat with the love of my life and we haven't driven each other nuts (or even come close to it) in the eighteen months since, and we've recently adopted a beautiful little cat which is all the family either of us really wants.

With that in mind, I've decided just to have a few simple goals/guidelines with which to live my year/decade by:

1. Finish the next draft of my novel - This has become somewhat of a white whale for me. I finished a draft of it in 2018, but I wasn't happy with it and took things back to the drawing board. Life came at me quite fast career-wise in 2019 so I haven't really had time to develop it further, but I feel I'm levelling out now and want to devote 30-60 minutes each day to making it a reality.
2. Stop being obsessed with the prestige of being published and just get the writing out there - Once I've finished the latest draft of my book, had it workshopped by peers and I'm happy with it, I'm just going to put a portion of out 'out there' on a site like Wattpad, because I need to move on from it and stretch myself creatively, but I can't bring myself to do that until it's in the wild (or at least a portion of it is).
3. Buy fewer games - That doesn't necessarily mean spend less on games, as my gaming budget hasn't been an issue. But I have found myself in a situation where I have more games than I can ever concieveably play, so I'm getting into a mode where I am not buying a bundle or sale game just because it's cheap, with the intent of playing it a few months down the line. If I buy a game, I'm now doing so with the full intent of playing it within a week of buying it. The problem is FOMO is hard, but the shenanigans with the EGS this past year has really opened my eyes to how Not Terrible missing out actually is. Waiting is good for the soul.
4. Spend less on takeaways/eating out - As my mid-30s get ever-closer, eating takeaways and rich fatty foods in restaurants is probably not the best thing to do. Me and my partner have reached a point where we get a takeaway at least once a week (at least is the operative word here - we can be so lazy sometimes), so I want to cut that down to maybe twice a month at most. It'll be good for the wallet and my health. This'll be hard, but we managed to significantly cut buying chocolates and snacks all the time in 2019 and we're already feeling better for it, so we know it's doable. Plus I need to do this now as my office moves into the city center in November which, while good for my commute, is going to tempt me with all sorts of amazing restaurants and takeaways the town center is full of.
5. Do more for my partner and the cat - This is as much a "me with me problem" as it is "them with me", as I feel I'm never doing enough or good enough for my loved ones, even though my partner tells me there's no problems and she'd tell me if there were. But to make myself feel better I think I'm going to just do little things if the thought occurs to me and just be generally more conscientious of their needs. The cat probably won't care, but I'm sure my partner will.

I plan to start on this as of tomorrow, with today somewhat of a day of contemplation and playing videogames on my last day off of the holidays before my new routine begins tomorrow.

 

[Le Pertti]

So seems my girlfriend didn't give up on me even after I stopped talking with her for days... I keep messing up so I'm glad she is patient with me.

So that's the future kids part done already haha.

 

[Anteater]

• Going to try run a full marathon, probably.
• Start drawing and use my twitter account
• Learn something new, don't know what yet.
• Want to do some volunteer work.
• Rewiring my brain to enjoy things again instead of stressing over every little thing.

 

[NarohDethan]

• Start drawing and use my twitter account

I'd also like to star drawing but I can't draw for shit.

 

[Le Pertti]

Anteater NarohDethan Drawing for me as well! I've tried to learn before but I never seem to stick with it. I blame video games haha, in that just sitting down and drawing is kind of boring so I get so restless. Hell I can't even watch tv or movies at home that well since I get so restless. Games is the only thing I get can fully into.

But with the changes I'm making one of the goals is to be able to not be overly stimulated at all times, so many I can finally learn to draw.

When learning before I made the mistake of thinking doing random drawings counted as practise, it doesn't! Watched some YouTube videos and they often said that practise has to be deliberate, meaning for example I have to figure out what I don't know how to draw and then learn it and look it up and just draw the shit out of that thing, then go over my results and then repeat. Sure might seem like an obvious thing but it took me way too long to learn that.

 

[gabbo]

• Get my weight and health back on track. 35 is not 25 and i'm starting to see the adverse affects of that.
  • This will mean less take out and more exercise - mostly walking/jogging around the neighbourhood since my family's budget is too slim to afford two gym memberships for my wife and I at the moment
• Finally sit my ass down and work on my little game projects I never find the time for. Even if I just finish the udemy tutorials for unreal or unity would be a massive step forward for this.
• get my x360/ps3 in a box project underway or recycle the consoles and move completely to emulation
• Buy fewer games, play more of my backlog
• Look into changing departments at work or changing jobs altogether

 

[Parsnip]

I've been thinking about drawing again as well. I used to draw a lot when I was younger but kind of just stopped at some point.

 

[Firewithin]

i will be attempting to give up alcohol until i can lose some weight. exercise is boring and im a picky eater so not sure how well ill do

 

[Le Pertti]

I have to say, my plan to limit gaming and other distractions to only after I've eaten dinner is great! Feel like I've been way more productive in the last two days than in a long time! It's amazing what boredom can do. When I wake up I'm like "oooh nothing to do" but then I just start doing tutorials on game engines and such just to not be bored.

 

[Ogni-XR21]

2nd post on here, but I think it's a good way to start...

• I want to exercise more, again. I used to hit the gym on a regular basis a few years ago. Went running in the nearby woods on a regular basis. But the last few years I've gotten lazy. I need to get back at this again.
• I need to eat healthier. I'm not overweight, but I could generally eat better. I've been reducing my meat consumption to once a week (also for ethical reasons) for a few weeks now and will cook for myself more (also something I didn't do regularly in a long time).
• Get back into dating. I've been single for way too long. Time to change that again.

 

[Le Pertti]

To everyone wanting to get in better health, one of the most important things to do is to get enough sleep! Not getting enough has bad effect on health and it's something you can't "get back on the weekends".

Still, I know all this yet I still don't get enough sleep.

 

[Le Pertti]

How is everyones new life going?

For me I'm still sticking to the no video games or YouTube before dinner (except weekends) and I think it's a bigger change than I thought! I can no longer escape my life instead I've started being productive again. I'm so damn amazed what a little boredom can do haha.

Things ended with the gf so I'm back to square one on that one.

 

[NarohDethan]

I started with something really dumb. Not leaving dirty dishes in the sink and stop ordering fast food for dinner. So far so good.

 

[Le Pertti]

I started with something really dumb. Not leaving dirty dishes in the sink and stop ordering fast food for dinner. So far so good.

Not having dirty dishes is a small thing but huge effect on mood!

 

[Anteater]

I started drawing everyday, I thought if I could run every morning for a year I could probably do the same with drawing.

 

[NarohDethan]

Not having dirty dishes is a small thing but huge effect on mood!

I should add ‘go to bed at decent hours’ to that list.

 

[C-Dub]

I should add ‘go to bed at decent hours’ to that list.

Bed at 11pm, up at 8.30. Does wonders for how I feel in the day.

 

[Phoenix RISING]

My youngest turns 11 in a couple of weeks, so my 10 year plan is to get the kids out of the house, lol.

That's it. Play and beat more games, maybe? I already have the trophy wife, dog, and car, so as long as I stay employed (grocery warehouse; people gotta eat, so this business isn't going anywhere), I can cruise.

 

[Stevey]

I'm drinking less this year so that's a good start.

Also, want to read more.

 

[Le Pertti]

Great video for all of us that are trying to learn something new or do something new.

 

[Ogni-XR21]

I drastically reduced my meat consumption and started cooking more often.

Last Sunday I decided to go for a run the first time in months. By Tuesday I developed a pain in my left knee. Signs of a starting inflamtion (I've dealt with this before so I know what it feels like) and spent the last few days putting ice bags on my knee when I was at home. It's almost gone by now, but I might have to think about something else to do instead of running. I know cycling is way better for your joints, but I just love running so I'm a bit bummed about this right now.

 

[Anteater]

I drastically reduced my meat consumption and started cooking more often.

Last Sunday I decided to go for a run the first time in months. By Tuesday I developed a pain in my left knee. Signs of a starting inflamtion (I've dealt with this before so I know what it feels like) and spent the last few days putting ice bags on my knee when I was at home. It's almost gone by now, but I might have to think about something else to do instead of running. I know cycling is way better for your joints, but I just love running so I'm a bit bummed about this right now.

Swimming is good I heard and probably more effective than running, but probably not very accessible.

 

[Anteater]

Drawing everyday is working out for me, I'm mostly sticking to drawing figures, I mean I'm not making master pieces but I guess not giving a shit is going a long way but at least I'm actually enjoying myself this time compared to the last several times I've tried.

I realized that I have a lot of bad habits built up it's tough to really know what to work on to improve, everything always just leads to the same failures but I'm taking my time to correct them one by one.

 

[NarohDethan]

I'm committed to full minimalism this year. Fuck it.

 

[Le Pertti]

I'm committed to full minimalism this year. Fuck it.

It's amazing! As the Buddhist or Fight Club quote goes, can't remember which haha, Get too much shit and in the end the shit owns you.

 

[NarohDethan]

It's amazing! As the Buddhist or Fight Club quote goes, can't remember which haha, Get too much shit and in the end the shit owns you.

It was Fight Club! haha

I've trying to be a minimalist for the last two years. I've succeded somewhat. I buy the occasional stupid thing here and there but nothing too bad or that I can't get rid of without difficulty.

 

[Firewithin]

i did a one day juice cleanse this past sunday to see if i could do it before attempting a longer cleanse and i was surprised at how well most of them tasted. there was enough pineapple or lemon to mask some of the more terrible sounding ingredients in a couple of them but overall it was actually good.

im 5 days strong in not craving soda constantly

 

[NarohDethan]

Speaking of minimalism, I encourage everyone to read ‘Goodbye things’ by Fumio Sasaki, a real eye opener

 

[NarohDethan]

Just canceled Amazon Prime. I don't need it.
Also deleted the app from my phone. I have to train myself to realize that there's nothing too urgent to buy right now that I need in 1-2 days.

 

[Anteater]

I think I might make an art self help thread on Meta this year, or if someone wants to make one, that's better

I'll need to learn a bit more to put together an OP, might take months at my speed

 

[Parsnip]

I don't know what to draw.

 

[Anteater]

I don't know what to draw.

I think it helps if you think about what you want to/like to be able to draw in the future, it could just be a simple topic like "beautiful people", you can then start looking up stuff related to it (art, people), and download resources on basics and start doodling, you don't have to force or overwhelm yourself to learn everything, but just work with what you have and have fun.

 

[Le Pertti]

I think I might make an art self help thread on Meta this year, or if someone wants to make one, that's better

I'll need to learn a bit more to put together an OP, might take months at my speed

Do it! It's better to make an ugly barebones one early than wait too long! That goes for anything really, one has to do something badly before one can do it good.

 

[NarohDethan]

I don't know what to draw.

Anime

 

[Le Pertti]

Anime is almost right, the correct answer is always naked women! Just look at all the great painters, pretty sure they all began just so they could draw naked ladies.

 

[NarohDethan]

Anime is almost right, the correct answer is always naked women! Just look at all the great painters, pretty sure they all began just so they could draw naked ladies.

Tfw you just horny and be called classical art a few centuries later

 

[Parsnip]

Naked women!?

 

[Anteater]

honestly it's probably easier to use lewd content as research materials sometimes, it annoys me sometimes that modeling often do the same several "modeling" poses, that you don't see people actually do in real life.

 

[Parsnip]

Yeah, that actually makes perfect sense.

 

[NarohDethan]

I’m really riding this minimalism train. My apartment hasnt looked this clean and spacious since I moved in lol

 

[NarohDethan]

So I’ve set some rules for bed time now. By 10:30 I should get ready to go to bed and then lights off at 11. Then I read until I fall asleep.
I’ve followed this for a week or so with good results, I don’t feel cranky in the morning anymore!

 

[NarohDethan]

I was talking with BlindRhythm about reducing our shopping at Amazon and other online retailers. This year I’ll try to do exactly that, if anything to reduce the amount of cardboard they send.