Do Over שָׁנָה*
‘Twas a
sunny Sunday mourning,
twenty twenty three
blue bright sky
sun still shining shining
as far as I could see.
Contorted luxury cars littered the shoulder of the Belt Parkway
staggered at every other mile and a tenth or so.
After three I thought…this is a pattern,
on a fast road to Manhattan…
We have a fast car.
A white pristine Lexus sat lonely and empty,
its front bumper ripped off; the last piece hung
by a screw, no, it’s luxury, by a seam,
like someone decked him and gave him a bloody lip at the club
because he was too close, forward, fresh
and didn’t know how to read body language.
A Benz flew up the grassy embankment and necked a tree,
struck and stuck in an awkward moment.
A black Acura,
whipped around in wrong way traffic, sat frozen on the shoulder
looking backwards, like Janus, but there was no forward face or movement.
Dwelling on past mistakes looking constantly behind
The road followed the eyes.
The irony was…
There was no used Chevy, Caravan, or a Toyota.
It was sport, show and flash.
Bad last-year decisions strew the highway side like
tired hares.
The tortoises headed to the breakfast, church, or the Kingdom Hall
while New York City’s Finest clustered 8 deep on light poles.
They fluffed up their gray feathers,
surveying 2022 decisions, empty rides, and extravagant toilets.
Random Fact: January 1, 1898 - Brooklyn became part of New York City. Photo by @piheros
Photo by @glencarrie
January 1st, the big reboot, the start over, redo, the Control+Alt+Delete, the force quit, the restart. In the school playground I remember kids shouting “Do Over!” when the first attempt wasn’t quite right. So, January 1st, the Do Over, not the Comb Over.
What will you make of 2023? I’ve started and stopped so many motivational, self-improvement and self-help podcasts and books. One of my favorite quotes is from an Author, Mister Greg Clunis, whom I met at a “Meet the Author” Day at The Bookmark Shoppe, Bay Ridge Brooklyn’s very own community bookstore. His bright orange book with white type flashes: “Tiny Leaps, Big Changes.” I underlined a line that resonated. “…but without taking action each and every day to move you toward that goal, you will find yourself living in your head daydreaming of future results. Simply put, your day to day behaviors is what create major changes in your life over time.” I love ideas. I collect and speak of them like blackbirds and shiny objects, kids and marbles, collectors and stamps, Hipsters and Vinyl, Miners and Bitcoin, Uncle Sam and taxes. If there were a job position named Idea Man, sign me up. So, what is your hack to get you where you want to go, to make your goals turn to reality? Comment below.
Photo by @jchristian406 “Tiny Leaps, Big Changes” Greg Clunis “…but without taking action each and every day to move you toward that goal, you will find yourself living in your head daydreaming of future results. Simply put, your day to day behaviors is what create major changes in your life over time.
The first and most enjoyable step is to acquire a goal. Brainstorm, ask around, mind map, bullet journal, passion board - use whatever creative or logical way to lay all your ideas visually on the table. Please find listed below one hundred and forty eight goals. If you have any others, kindly add them to the comments. We will pair the goals with a quote, such as Camembert and champagne, Riesling and Raclette, Peanut Butter and Jelly.
Flâner
French: wander aimlessly in a city without a destination but having a purpose; actively observing the environs and surroundings with a thoughtful, philosophical, approach; meandering with the spirit of being part of a place and yet to be on the outside.
Be a ”Tourist in My Town”
1. Visit a famous landmark in your town and document the event with a picture.
2. Visit a historical landmark in your town and document the event with a picture.
3. Find the oldest eatery in your town and eat their food.
4. Find the latest rave in your town and ask the wait staff to surprise you with a food and drink from the menu.
5. Visit a graveyard and research a famous person and an obscure person in your town.
6. Determine a historical event that happened in your town in near or far history.
7. Ask 5 people in your town. What would you recommend that you absolutely have to do, absolutely have to eat, absolutely have to see. Then take your next guests to that experience.
8. Cook a meal that represents your town culturally.
9. Create your own city tour for your guests when they visit. (Include food spots, tourist traps, places off the beaten path. Find a popular tv show location, street murals, historical locations)
10. Create a food crawl. Document the event.
11. Have a staycation.
12. Insert your goal here or comment below__________________________
Schwellenangst
German: The fear of beginning a new chapter.
Photo by @1hundredimages
Schwellenangst: G erman: The fear of beginning a new chapter.
Come Out of A Comfort…Zone
1. Make an uncomfortable list.
2. Start a conversation with a stranger.
3. Ask deeper questions.
4. Be uncomfortable with silence and do not try to fill it.
5. Eat a dish outside your normal routine of burger, fries, and soda.
6. Try cuisine from a different culture. Example Cow Tongue Tacos, Ethiopian Injera and Beef Tibs, Greek Grilled Octopus, Jamaican Oxtails, Lebanese Raw Kibbe. Document the feeling and the experience with a journal entry or photograph.
7. Walk a different way home from work.
8. Create a new recipe and implement it for dinner.
9. Apply for a job that intimidates you.
10. When ordering a meal at a restaurant, tell the waiter to surprise you.
11. Ask a friend: if there is one thing you would tell me to better myself, what would it be?
12. Do something spontaneous.
13. Have a dinner in the dark.
14. Buy a pack of sticky notes. Write anonymous compliments for friends, coworkers, strangers, your loved one.
15. Introduce yourself to someone new.
16. Buy a strange fruit or vegetable at the supermarket.
17. Start a challenge with a friend.
18. Go out on a date with yourself. Splurge.
19. Declutter.
20. Ask for honest feedback from your family, your workmates, your boss.
21. Insert your goal here or comment below__________________________
Lagom
Swedish: Meaning something like “just right,” what you feel when something is not too hot, not too cold, but just right. Or when you get a massage and it’s not too hard, not too soft, but with just the right amount of pressure. It’s the experience of something being the perfect middle ground.
I like to move it…move it.
1. Go to a sauna.
2. Get a full body massage.
3. Hire a trainer for a week.
4. Do a 30 day aerobic or anerobic challenge.
5. Walk a 5K race.
6. Walk somewhere you normally drive.
7. Park further away from your destination and walk.
8. Do 5 pushups…10 pushups…20 pushups…50 pushups…100 pushups.
9. Do the NYC Bike Tour.
Photo by @johnnymcclung
“The job of feet is walking, but their hobby is dancing.” - Amit Kalantri
10. Ride your Bike to Work.
11. Challenge your co-worker to do a random exercise with you for 2 weeks at an agreed upon time. For example, 25, 40, 50 jumping jacks.
12. Learn a dance - ballroom, waltz, hip hop, bachata.
13. Set a goal of 2,000, 5000, 7,000, 10000, 10,000+ steps a day. Circle One.
14. Drink 8-10 glasses of water per day.
15. Refrain from eating Fast Food for a year.
16. Drink water first thing in the morning for a year
17. Get up early in the morning and find a mindful activity, read the good book, do stretching exercises, have a slow cup of coffee or tea.
18. Give up something for 1 week, 1 month, 6 months, 1 year. (Circle a choice)
19. Live minimally.
20. Take a nature bath.
21. Insert your goal here___________ or comment below
Jijivisha | जिजीविषा
Hindi: the intense desire to live and to continue living in the highest sense of being. It’s often used to speak about someone who lives his or her life to the fullest.
Don’t Listen to what they say. Go See.
Photo by @hannahwrightdesigner
Doubtful Sound, New Zealand. Did they choose this name as once you have seen it your doubts wash away?
Close your eyes, spin the globe and place your finger on a location. Set your next flight to that location.
Go see the Aurora Borealis in Iceland, Norway, or Canada.
Tour Havana in a classic car in Cuba.
Visit the mud volcanoes of Gobustan.
Try Zorbing.
Experience Hot air balloonin’ in Cappadocia or New Mexico
Dead Sea Float.
Visit Doubtful Sound, New Zealand
Take a Deep South Road Trip and include food, history, and national park theme and stops.
Take a Route 66 Road Trip.
Visit a Wonder of the World.
Visit the country of your family’s heritage.
Insert your travel goal here___________ or comment below.
Gezellig
Dutch: Convivial, cozy, fun, quaint, or a nice atmosphere. Time spent with loved ones, seeing a friend after a long absence, or general togetherness that gives a warm feeling.
We are family.
1. Call your Mom and Dad and tell them you love them.
2. Take your Mom and Dad on a parental date. (Miniature golf, mini food crawl)
3. Take your wife or husband on a romantic date.
4. Take your family on a road trip.
Photo by @minigirl
5. Help plan and prepare an occasion for your grandparents.
6. Interview and film your parents.
7. Have a family game night at least (inset) __ x times each month this year.
8. Have one meal a day with family.
9. Build a closer relationship with your sibling.
10. Keep in regular contact with all your family and friends.
11. Insert your family goal here___________ or comment below.
Ikigai 生き甲斐
Japanese: a reason for being, what pulls you out of bed in the morning and inspires you.
The Kanji for Ikigai — Image by Nicholas Kemp
Skillz to pay the bills.
1. Learn a new language.
3. Become an amateur, hobbyist or expert in latest tech.
4. Take a continuing education class at a college.
5. Learn Public Speaking
6. Learn how to cook.
7. Learn how to make a good cup of coffee.
8. Learn how to make beer.
9. Learn how to maintain your car.
10. Learn how to make basic investments.
11. Take a singing class.
12. Learn a trade.
13. Insert your personal development goal here___________ or comment below.
Ailyak
Photo by @eawuy
Bulgarian - the subtle art of doing everything calmly and without rushing, while savoring the experience and life in general.
Music is the answer.
1. Ask a teenager in your life what music he/she loves and listen to it with understanding and appreciation.
2. Ask the grandparent in your life what he/she enjoys and listen to it with appreciation.
3. Go to a small concert venue and enjoy the people and the music.
4. Select an instrument to learn.
5. Purchase the instrument.
6. View a few lessons on YouTube.
7. Sign up for lessons with a teacher.
8. Find a mentor and study his/her life, collect his/her music, listen to it with a glass of wine (if old enough).
9. Go to a Blue Grass Concert.
10. Go to a Music Festival.
11. Find a random and obscure instrument. Find an artist and a venue where you will see and hear it featured.
12. Insert your music goal here____or comment below.
Level up
English: to advance or improve (oneself, someone else, or something) in or as if in a game
Photo by @blankerwahnsinn
Become financially independent.
Create a $1,000, $3,000, $5,000 $10,000 or ______ choose a number for your emergency savings fund.
Invest in stocks; start out small.
Generate a recurring passive income.
Pay off all debt and keep yourself debt free.
Save 6-8 months of expenses in an Emergency Fund.
Open up an Roth IRA Investment Account.
Circle and save $1,000, $2,500, $5,000, $10,000, $25,000, $50,000 or______ choose a number of your own.
Ask your boss for a raise.
Commit to a one no spend day a week.
Track your expenses every single day.
Hoʻoponopono
Hawaiian verb: Although literally translated as correction or to bring about rightness, hoʻoponopono also refers to reconciliation and self-forgiveness.
Photo by @jmvillejo
Find a career that you love.
Become an expert or leader in your field.
Go for a walk every day.
Become a better listener.
Buy your first home.
Read the complete Bible in 90 days, 6 months, 1 year. Circle One. *
Volunteer for an organization and give back to your community.
Save enough money to buy something you've always wanted.
Go on a road trip with your best friend.
Read 1 new book per week, month, 6 weeks.
Start a journal.
Practice gratitude daily.
Improve your public speaking skills.
Find peace; forgive someone who has hurt you.
Start a personal challenge.
Mentor someone in your field.
Pay for someone else’s coffee, lunch, meal.
Learn to say no.
Become more decisive.
Improve one of your weaknesses.
Discover your best place to live.
Make a “bucket list”.
Stretch out and make new friends.
Find a life partner.
Do a digital detox.
Have a screen free day once a week or month, trimonthly, semi-annually, annually. Circle one and do better next time.
Go to sleep early. (Between 10:00pm and 11:00pm)
Attend a live Moth event. (Live storytelling)
Hike a difficult path that has an amazing vista.
Deliver one of the most famous speeches of history in front of friends or family.
Change your inside voice to be less harsh and more kind.
Which goal or goals will you choose? If not on the list add them in the comments below.
*References
שָׁנָה - The principal Hebrew word for “year,” sha·nahʹ, comes from a root meaning “repeat; do again”.