I saw the phrase “September is the real new year” somewhere and realised that’s genuinely how I feel.
September is when things really restart. It’s time to refocus after the summer, get back into the habits that have been slipping, or start new ones. And you get to wear your sweaters again!
In comparison, 1 Jan is just a random day in the middle of winter.
So, Happy New Year! 🎉
When it comes to finances, I subscribe to the idea that automation is how to make it easy to stay on top of things. I just don’t have the will to track every expense or go through account statements.
Over time, I have fine-tuned a system that I find makes it really easy for me to stay on top of things without thinking, avoiding my expenses ballooning or me wondering at the end of the month where all the money went.
The main ideas are:
I like systems and processes, and easily end up with long lists of specific rules, goals and principles for how to live my life.
However, as much as I enjoy creating these systems, they quickly lose their appeal. Long lists feel like pressure. Too many rules hold me back, or I end up ignoring them. And when I do, the system breaks down.
A couple of years ago, inspired by some article or podcast I can’t remember now, I tried a different approach: identifying my personal values.
Much to my surprise, it has actually been working! I have stuck to them since and never felt a need to rewrite them. Unlike the long list of life rules, I know them by heart, and they don’t get outdated the same way the more granular items do.
Whenever I have a decision to make, I avoid things that don’t align with my values. If I feel discontent, I use my values to try to find what’s missing.
Sure, I may still relapse and create a list of intentions once in a while, but when I do, I now have my values to guide me.
But enough background, let’s move on to the values themselves!
Something happened a few months ago that forced me to reflect on my own mortality. All is good now (I hope!), but it was a reminder that it will not always be the case.
It made me think of a quote at the top of one of my favourite pages on the early Internet, Mark Rosenstein’s Sailing Page:
“For the truth is that I already know as much about my fate as I need to know. The day will come when I will die. So the only matter of consequence before me is what I will do with my allotted time. I can remain on shore, paralyzed with fear, or I can raise my sails and dip and soar in the breeze.”
– Richard Bode, First you have to row a little boat
I wish I could say that’s how I’ve been living since I read it (I even read the book), but convenience and routine came between.
I wouldn’t say I’ve wasted time, per se. I realised during Covid that it’s the little things you do every day that add up to a life, and I’m definitely living those. Nevertheless, in the spirit of appreciating those moments even more, and maybe adding in a few more bits, I have now created a life tracker.
This is inspired by a post I saw on Pinterest in terms of the format, and shows how many weeks I’ve used up and how many I may have left, assuming I live as long as the average man of my age in the UK.
The tracker is updated automatically, based on today’s date, so the clock is ticking.
Food for thought, when you see it like this.
