Things I Failed At

During December I had a lot of time think. That’s never a good thing. I ended up with a little project to define my personal values. I want something I can write down and measure myself against. You know, kind of a like a corporate mission statement or values list, except for just me. I figured that I can’t ever be better unless I know what better means to me.

That project is still going but as a step along the way I came up with a list of my failures. I also figured that if I can name my failures then maybe that will help me define what success looks like. It’s just the other side of the coin.

This list is a little bit personal, but it’s probably not all that different from other well adjusted adults.1 It’s not weighted or organized with any priority. Many are conflicting. Adulting is hard.

  • I spend too much on coffee
  • I don’t play enough with my kid
  • I don’t do enough nice things for my wife
  • I’m too fat
  • I don’t dress well
  • I need to remind people that they do good work
  • I don’t do enough charity
  • I don’t save enough for the future
  • I don’t work hard enough
  • I don’t learn enough each week
  • I’m not happy enough each day
  • I don’t sleep enough
  • I don’t clean my car very often
  • I don’t exercise
  • I don’t spend enough time day dreaming
  • I don’t read enough
  • I don’t make an effort to socialize
  • I write too informally
  • I use complicated words too often
  • I focus on what’s wrong more than what’s right
  • I don’t start with empathy often enough
  • I don’t hang my clothes
  • I don’t shave every day
  • I need more music in my life
  • I don’t make art often enough
  • My hair is too unkempt
  • I waste money on things I don’t need
  • I don’t cook enough nice meals

  1. I extracted this straight from a Day One journal entry. It started as a musing and ended as something I think is really helpful. ↩︎