ADHD · goals

Sometimes A Vague Goal Is Pretty Useful

Do I owe you a thinky post about World Creativity Day? Yes, yes, I do. Alas, last week was made of chaos, headaches, and migraines and it did not get done. I have safely emerged from that maelstrom but I am writing this on Monday and my solo storytelling show is tonight and my focus keeps wandering from my thinky post. Since I would prefer that my brain stay in one piece, I am writing about something else today and I will get back to the creativity one soon.

On Sunday evening, I made a list of things I wanted to have done by the end of this week. There were a few work tasks, a couple of household things, and, oddly enough, one rather vague item – become stronger. 

I don’t even really know where that last one came from but I found myself intrigued.

I mean, becoming stronger is an ongoing goal for me so this isn’t completely new but something felt different about having it on my list in that format.

Become stronger.

Become stronger. 

When I phrase it like that it’s not a list of exercises or a bunch of tasks or a potential goal, it’s an open loop. 

And my brain, the same one that fights with me about exercising or completing tasks*, is ALWAYS intrigued by an open loop and it starts in with the questions…

What does ‘become stronger’ mean?

How can I become stronger in a week?

What would that involve?

How will I know if I become stronger?

Why do I even want to become stronger?

Who do I want to consult on this?**

When can I get started?

See how quickly my brain dug in on this? It is totally invested in solving the mystery of how to become stronger this week. 

And I’m going to let it figure it out as we go. 

After all, I know that I can’t get a lot stronger in one week but that’s where the vagueness of ‘become stronger’ works out well. I don’t have to get a lot stronger, I just have to move the needle. 

And, in fact, when I got up Monday morning my brain was already reminding me that we had to work towards getting stronger today. 

So things are off to an interesting start!

A photo of a horse in the distance with a lot of field all around it.
This is what I got when I searched for ‘vague’ in the image library. I guess it’s accurate? The connection is value at least. Image description: a black and white photo of a dark-coloured horse (I think) on light-coloured ground that could be a field or snow or a beach. The horse is in the distance in the centre so it is very small relative to the size of the image overall. It is maybe 1/8 of the height of the image and 1/12 or the width.

PS – Today’s ‘become stronger’ activity turned out to be this 10 Minute Morning Workout to Boost Energy from MonikaFit.

Well, I won’t be able to get a lot stronger in one week but I will be able to

*Yes, I do often refer to my brain as separate from me, apparently it’s an ADHD thing.

**In this case the ‘who’ will be a combo of fitness people on YouTube and Instagram but I really wanted to get a who question in there so I phrased it as who instead of saying ‘What videos will I watch?’

Let us know what you think....