though as a general concept, i decry the way facebook has become increasingly monetized; my news feed is littered with ads some algorithm has calculated i’d like. most of it is utter crap, but i can’t deny that i’ve found two or three ads appealing. they’ve even led to one or two purchases.
one such item is the spark notebook (thesparknotebook.com). from the site’s “users guide.”
The Spark Notebook is a place for you to store your most important notes, goals, and big ideas so you’re always at the top of your game. It achieves what no other notebook has before: combining the stunning design of sleek, professional notebooks with the functionality of big life-planners and organization guides. All of the great organizational tools without fuss or frills.
i get that the tone and language was probably market tested by some advertising firm somewhere, but it’s true that i could use a little direction and constructive planning in my life. with my 40th birthday less than three years away, i’m feeling an increasing need to sort my shit out. put another way, at just about six-months shy of my 38th birthday, i’m still struggling to find a career i care and can feel proud about. despite the high cost of living in hawaii, i nonetheless feel like i should be a little more financially stable; i’m not as far along as maybe i should be.
to all of that add another bout of depression earlier this year, and i need all the help i can get to get organized and motivated. throw in my affinity for nice notebooks and the spark notebook seemed worth giving a try.
taking to heart this new effort, i’ll start using the notebook on january 1, though some thoughtfulness is required before the new year arrives. some helpful, guiding questions from spark:
- what do i want to leave behind from last (this) year?
- what went incredibly well?
- what do i want more of in the year ahead?
- thinking about the person i aspire to be, how do i imagine myself in five years?
- what does that person know that i don’t yet?
- what does that person know? do?
- how does that person spend their time?
these are not easy questions to answer and though i’ve started to jot down ideas, thoughts, on these very probing questions, i’m still not really sure how to answer them. with just under two weeks before the new year, i’ve got a lot of thinking to do.
part two, hopefully coming soon, will see me begin to (attempt to) answer these questions.