Setting up for success

config.toml

@@ -48,5 +48,7 @@ after_dark_menu = [
     { name = "Source", url = "https://github.com/notdevkey/notdevkey.github.io" },
     { name = "RSS", url = "$BASE_URL/rss.xml" },
     { name = "About", url = "https://github.com/notdevkey" },
+    { name = "LinkedIn", url = "https://linkedin.com/in/ronalds-palacis" },
+    { name = "SoundCloud", url = "https://soundcloud.com/notdevkey" },
 ]
-after_dark_title = "Devkey's Blog | Web3 • Design • Music"
+after_dark_title = "Devkey's Blog | Dev • Design • Music"

content/setting-up-for-success.md

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++++
+title = "Beginners guide on setting yourself up for success"
+date = 2024-09-16
+
+[taxonomies]
+categories = ["Guides"]
++++
+
+A guide on how to (realistically) go big and not go home.
+
+<!-- more -->
+
+---
+
+We all have tried. We all have heard about personal development. Yet there are far too many books, guides, frameworks on how to live a better life. What's the problem? Do we really need to read every single personal development book in existence to unlock the best way of living? At what point does it become a 'tutorial hell' and 'self-development porn'?
+
+"Personal Development is the conscious pursuit of personal growth by expanding self-awareness and knowledge and improving personal skills." - as stated by the UK College of Personal Development (didn't know there was a college for that).
+
+Simple, right?
+
+Personal development can be broken down into 3 main components you have to attain for greater success:
+
+1. Your vision - **why?**
+
+2. Your goals - **what?**
+
+3. Your values - **how?**
+
+From the 'Personal productivity' course by Starweaver - "When our goals are in harmony with our values, we experience a sense of authenticity and satisfaction". It becomes easier to commit to our goals because they represent not just something we want to do, but something we truly believe in.
+
+Additionally, as Peter Drucker emphasizes in his book "Managing Oneself," playing to your strengths is crucial for achieving success. By understanding and leveraging your strengths, you can maximize your productivity and effectiveness. This approach not only enhances your performance but also boosts your confidence and motivation. When you align your goals with your values and capitalize on your strengths, you create a powerful synergy that propels you towards your aspirations with greater ease and fulfillment.
+
+Why is the alignment of your goals, your vision, and your value so important?
+
+**Direction and focus.**
+
+Goals + vision = clear direction. It guides your focus and helps you avoid any distractions. They remind you where you want to go and keep you on track
+This clarity and focus enchances your productivity and effectiveness. Add value in to this equation and it will fuel your motivation. Values make your vision and goals more meaningful to you, and therefore, you're always more committed.
+
+When your goals reflect your values, your actions become consistent with your beliefs. You're not just achieving goals now, you're living your truth, and that's key. So let me debunk...
+
+## Setting goals - "what?"
+
+There are many, MANY ways to set your goals. There are countless studies on different guides and frameworks to use for goal setting. Truth is, everyone has their own preference and value. Huge tip btw: listen to yourself. It's **personal** development for a reason.
+
+Here are some of the most popular frameworks for setting goals:
+
+- Hoshin Kanri matrix
+- O.K.R.s
+- I.C.E.
+- B.H.A.G. (Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals)
+- One Word Goal
+- Goals Pyramid Framework
+
+If you have heard of SMART goals, you might be wondering why this list is missing it. Personally, I don't view it as a framework, since it's used by many frameworks and is generally just a good practice when it comes to goal setting. Once you get used to SMART goals, you can't go back to DUMB goals. It simply makes no sense. However, you can switch between frameworks. On top of that, many frameworks like Hoshin Kanri and I.C.E. depend on SMART goals, otherwise they wouldn't serve any purpose.
+
+### SMART goals
+
+Not all goals are created equal. In order to be truly effective, goals should be SMART.
+
+SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. As Julian Jenkins said on 'Personal productivity' - "Setting goals in this technique turns ambitions into clear plans of action, making them more likely to be accomplished." The strongest foundamental element to SMART are small successes that enable your feeling of gratitude and accomlishment, which then fuel your motivation and ambition even more. To me, the largest benefit of SMART goals so far has been the value 'achievable' + 'time-bound' criteria brings. It makes sure your goals are not too ambitious. "Rome was not built in a single day," as they say. Time-bound makes you pumped to commit to the task and do it in time, stay to your schedule. I also find these 2 criteria the easiest to fuck up.
+
+To give an example, heres a DUMB goal:
+
+"I want to get fit."
+
+Here's the same goal transformed into SMART:
+
+"I want to improve my fitness by running 3x a week for 30min to improve my health and boost my energy levels."
+
+What exactly makes it SMART? Let's break it down:
+
+1. Specific - the task goes into detail specifying which aspects will it improve - "health and energy levels";
+2. Measurable - "3x a week for 30min" is a value you can measure very simply using a timer or a smart watch;
+3. Achievable - if you're a healthy person, running for 30min should not be a task that requires moving mountains, which makes it achievable. 3x of it wouldn't hurt either;
+4. Relevant - you want to get fit, you have familiarized yourself with the benefits of running, so this task makes very much sense;
+5. Time-bound - although there is no clear deadline to this task, the time-boundness is in the routine - a week.
+
+The relevancy of a SMART goal is the trickiest part because only you can make sense of it to yourself. For that, you need to ask yourself - why?
+
+## The vision - "why?"
+
+There's a good rule of thumb I set for myself, and the team lead of my current workplace told me about it - "your goals can not extend beyond 2 months from now."
+
+Why is that so?
+
+While 2 months is a brief number, the principle goes that the further you think into the future, the more factors outside of your control will appear. Generally, when you set a big goal, like "I want to reach $10k/mo MRR in 5 months" - it might happen, but most likely not. You can get sick, you can get a really good long-term opportunity that requires an immediate onboarding in max. 1 month period, you can get struck by a lightning, ultimately anything. One can only guess.
+
+Vision, on the other hand, is far beyond the 2 month mark - it's the oasis you imagine yourself in when you have achieved the peak of your life. For me the question "what are you gonna do in 10 years?" sparks this imagination. For each person it will be different.
+
+One thing I highly recommend doing is creating a vision board (haven't done it myself yet, gonna update this blog when I have finished it). Some of my coursemates even have put it as desktop and phone wallpaper to remind themselves about their vision every day. A vision board can be anything - images, text, videos, gifs - that represent your dreams, successes, story, your oasis. It should answer the question - "Why? Why do I live?"
+
+## The values - "how?"
+
+Let me just start this by flexing my value pyramid real quick.
+
+![Value pyramid](/values.png)
+
+Honestly, putting my values on this pyramid has had a way bigger impact on my goals lately than I would've thought, and I recommend you make one for yourself, too. If you've seen one of these self-fulfillment pyramids previously, you probably know that they don't say much besides showing the general needs of everyone on this planet, which is simply cool to know I suppose. This pyramid, on the other hand, must resonate with you. I had this moment myself, when I had laid out all values, went over the pyramid multiple times and had nothing to change about it, it just clicked - the pyramid is me, I'm the pyramid.
+
+Your vision board should already scratch the surface of this. If it doesn't, there's probably some misalignment in the vision board or the value pyramid.
+
+## Priorities
+
+The last thing I want to mention is how to prioritize your goals.
+
+I've been a huge fan of the belief that "it's not that you don't have enough time, you simply have set you priorities wrong." I often found myself saying "I didn't have enough time" in situations where I had taken on a responsibility and failed to deliver in time. Thinking back, I do realize I was producing music the previous day instead of working on the task I was held accountable for.
+
+Every single person has their own procrastination tendencies. Countless Youtube videos and books later, I can recommend doing 2 things:
+
+1. Just fuckin' start doin the ting;
+2. Pomodoro 45-15 (45min work, 15min break).
+
+Goal setting frameworks mentioned earlier can come in handy in prioritization, too. Take, for example, the Hoshin Kanri matrix, where the goals are automatically dissected into smaller and prioritized tasks defined as KPIs (key performance indicators).
+
+Personally, I realized that putting your goals into these frameworks every week takes more time and brainpower than using the "Big rocks first" method by Stephen Covey. I've already got enough daily stand-ups and catch-ups to sort my priorities in my head or put them into ClickUp. Speaking of ClickUp...
+
+### Task management tools
+
+A quick disclaimer: **task != goal**
+
+- Goals are overarching aims; tasks are individual actions.
+- Goals are typically set for the long term; tasks are often short-term and immediate.
+- Completing a task may bring relief, while achieving a goal usually elicits greater joy and fulfillment
+
+In simple words: tasks should make up a goal, ideally. How you define your tasks is a very subjective and personal topic. Given your situation, your skills, your capability, it will differ. However, there are few ways you can manage your tasks to enhance your efficiency and save energy.
+
+I have used these tools:
+
+- ClickUp - perfect for agile team task management;
+- Trello - same shit, but smaller capabilities;
+- Google Calendar - perfect for keeping a schedule and consistency throughout each day if set up correctly;
+- Todoist - perfect for personal tasks and routines, my preference;
+- Todo list (physical) - can do anything, probably your go-to if carpal tunnel is not on your wishlist.
+
+My favorite combo over the last few months has been Google Calendar + Todoist. Google Calendar for daily/weekly routines; Todoist for daily tasks.
+
+## The framework
+
+To summarize everything in a few key points:
+
+1. Goals vs. Tasks: Goals are long-term and overarching, while tasks are short-term and immediate actions. Completing tasks brings relief, but achieving goals brings joy and fulfillment.
+
+2. Task Management Tools: Use tools like ClickUp for agile team management, Trello for simpler task management, Google Calendar for scheduling, Todoist for personal tasks, and physical todo lists if you prefer writing by hand.
+
+3. SMART Goals: Ensure your goals are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound to turn ambitions into clear plans of action.
+
+4. Vision: Your vision should be a long-term aspiration, something that keeps you motivated and focused. Consider creating a vision board to visualize your dreams and goals.
+
+5. Values: Align your goals with your values to ensure your actions are consistent with your beliefs. This alignment fuels motivation and commitment.
+
+6. Prioritization: Prioritize your goals effectively. Use frameworks like Hoshin Kanri or the "Big rocks first" method to manage your priorities and avoid procrastination.
+
+### Implementation
+
+Start with your vision—a long-term aspiration that keeps you motivated. Next, define your values to ensure your goals align with your beliefs and principles. Finally, set SMART goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound to create a clear plan of action. This sequence ensures that your actions are consistent and purposeful, driving you towards fulfillment and success.
+
+This blog post is a guide I made for myself to keep me going during darker times. I hope you, reader, find this insightful. Good luck on your journey.
+
+[Know Thyself - The Value and Limits of Self-Knowledge: The Unconscious](https://www.coursera.org/account/accomplishments/certificate/RSB2IY6N23FL)
+
+[Personal Productivity, Time Management and Prioritization](https://www.coursera.org/account/accomplishments/certificate/QE69IV5RJLO4)