A hopefully non-spammy experiment in public self-improvement
I made an embarrassingly verbose post yesterday attempting to put into words and seek advice on difficulties in executing sustained steps towards building a future. It's something I've struggled with all my life, coasting along, with the mirage of action towards goals forever ahead, always tomorrow, or next week, or when I get home. I think Pink Floyd wrote something about missing the starting gun.
(...Goddamn I haven't listened to Pink Floyd in years. That's some good stuff right there.)
Anyway reading and replying to the (much appreciated) comments from you lovely people got me thinking and, frankly, a little bit motivated to be an agent for some change. However something I've learned to notice by now is that that initial drive tends to have a nauseatingly short half-life. So how can we regularly stir things up to keep the reaction going?
So here's what I'm thinking: Starting a short weekly post in ~talk detailing what I've worked on or otherwise accomplished (or not accomplished) from Monday to Sunday open to input, encouragement or criticism. Actually, if other people would be interested in committing to something like this I'd almost prefer to make it a public thing where people (including myself) can log their weekly progress in the comments of a thread dedicated to such a thing.
Obviously this is a bit rough around the edges so I'll think about it this week and pending suggestions or objection will probably put the first one up next Sunday or Monday.
I think this might be a Neat Thing, yeah?
I believe ~life would be a better fit for this.
For you, definitely. I can see what you're doing: you're using us to keep you accountable to your goals. Instead of relying on self-discipline, you're using this weekly report to outsiders as a way of keeping yourself motivated. (I'm not judging - I've been known to use external forces to help me get things done, instead of relying on my own self-discipline.) So this is a Neat Thing for you because it'll help you improve your life.
However... what's in it for the rest of us? What would we get from reading your weekly journal?
From OP:
I think allowing anyone to post progress on it would keep it from being OP's weekly journal.
Cool. So @geosmin can post a weekly "What have you achieved this week?" thread in ~life. He can then comment in that thread about his weekly achievements.
Additionally, those who need ideas could likely benefit from seeing what others are doing to better themselves in a less preachy environment (as opposed to e.g. superficial self help blogs).
Yup. Half-way through the thing it started to feel quite arrogant. That's why I think the better angle would be to open it up. A "What Have You Accomplished (or not) This Week" type thing. I got a few private messages along with a couple comments in that thread from people struggling with something similar.
As to the rest of your comment well said, that's exactly it.
Edit: I'm still wondering if pre would be better than post. "What Do You Intend..." maybe both? I don't want it to get annoying either.
Go ask the folks in ~life what they'd like to see.
I'd be interested in something like that. Sometimes, that sort of accountability can help me stay focused. Sometimes, even just hearing about different techniques other people try, or what mechanisms have been working can help me refine my own approach towards projects.
We've also been trying to do a weekly themed thread in ~creative, although I'm not sure if those are the sort of projects you're looking to practice. As far as accountability and journaling, I think that sort of thing lend itself well to discussion of methods. Even a little vicarious living can have interesting, unexpected results.