Foxtail Coffee – Riverview South, 12350 US-301 Unit 8, Riverview, FL 33578
Hot damn…two Coffee Conversations within a few weeks of each other! I’m really hoping to make this a regular thing in 2025. Maybe not every week but maybe every other week?
Speaking of 2025, it’s almost here. And if December moves as fast as the rest of 2024 then we’ll be celebrating a new year before I finish typing this sentence. Ok…still 2024, whew.
I’m a planner, goal-setting, Type A sort of person. I’ve set resolutions every year for as long as I can remember. I’m not distressed if I don’t achieve everything, but I do like some shiny goals to reach for. EXCEPT, since I moved to Florida five and a half years ago (what?!?), I’ve called myself a recovering Type A. I’m not officially retired, although my husband says I am, I am trying to move into that slower paced phase of life.
Ok, hold up, how are you not retired but retired? I doubt I’ll have another ‘outside of the house’ job again (unless something awesome comes along like working for Elise at The Urban Harvest did). In typical Type A fashion I still have a ton of projects, plus I also knew I’d ‘go back to art full-time’ during my retirement. So, am I retired? Maybe, but I’m not dead so I’m still working! There is also the whole issue of my role of house/kitchen/yard/caretaker that I won’t retire from, but that’s a conversation for another day.
So Recovering Type A…what does that even mean? First, it means trying to get my blood pressure down. Do you know a Type A over 40 without high blood pressure? It’s an unwelcome side effect of the ‘go..go..go’ mentality. My new mantra is slow..slow..slow. Not really, but I’m trying to at least slow down a little.
Next is not necessarily giving up goals and resolutions but giving a lot more thought into each one. Why do I have a particular goal? Is it truly for me or something I think I ‘should’ do? That age old question for each one…What’s my Why?
Probably the biggest and hardest part of being a Recovering Type A is less productivity. I’ve been doing a deep dive into busyness, productivity and meaning these past few weeks. This is the hardest for me. If I’m not busy I feel like I’m being lazy, slack, less…stick any ol’ negative word on there.
…busyness and productivity for the sake of productivity gets in the way of meaningfulness…
But busyness and productivity for the sake of productivity gets in the way of meaningfulness. I am more and more dissatisfied at the end of the ‘busy’ days than ever. My husband asked how my day was a few weeks ago and I replied, “I didn’t get enough done.”
He laughed and responded, “Do you ever feel like you get enough done?”
I thought about it for a few minutes and said, “I don’t feel like I got any of the things done that are important to me.” And that is what started this deep dive into busyness and productivity. Especially combined with some other revelations into my psyche (more on that in the future) and all the realizations I had during my Coffee Conversation from a few weeks ago.
So going into 2025 I’m still making goals and resolutions but I’m really trying to put some thought behind each one. How do I truly want to spend my time? Is this goal important enough that I will prioritize it in my daily life? Does this really matter to me? Can I visualize myself spending time on this? I’ll let you know what I come up with.
How about you? What’s your goal setting process? Have you had any deep ‘ahas’ this year as well? Are you ‘overbusy’ and ‘under-satisfied’?