This is my first time writing, so welcome to my set of articles. As with everything else, I hope to get better as I continue. For now, I'll keep things simple.
I've been thinking about writing articles for a while—mostly about ideas I usually mull over but never share with anyone. I often have controversial thoughts floating in my head, and I believe some of them are worth sharing. But when I'm alone, they fade away, so I thought, Why not write them down? Let them be here for anyone to read if they wish—or to ignore if they don't find them interesting.
I also like the idea of writing since it is something that will simply stay here, and will not go away. As time goes by and years pass, I come up with new controversial thoughts that might differ from my previous ones. It may sound odd, since they're all my own ideas, but it simply happens. I go through phases, and each thought belongs to its era. So I'm not ashamed if future articles completely contradict the earlier ones I've written. It's part of learning. In fact, I like the idea of contradicting myself—it shows I can prove my old self wrong.
We can think of each article as a thesis, my life in the years that follow is the ongoing experiment, and whatever I learn after those years is my final conclusion. So yes, everything I write could be seen as a thesis. At the moment of writing this, I'm 23. I have a lot of time to run my own experiments (experience my life) to confirm or reject my ideas. I recommend you treat my articles as pure thesis proposals and try to prove them right or wrong for yourself. At the very least, what I write means something to me at this particular time, and I hope it helps as many people as possible. But don't take it all as absolute truth—see it instead as a hypothesis waiting to be tested.
Now that I've explained my intentions, let's get back to the title: Goals. I really believe everyone should set goals. I wouldn't be writing this if I hadn't set the goal of creating my personal webpage and publishing here as one of my 2025 objectives. This is actually my first time writing down goals. I used to think it was pointless because nobody knows what will happen over the course of a year. I'm very spontaneous—I don't always know what I'll be doing tomorrow morning. All my life, I thought that setting goals was a waste of time, because unexpected variables, like trips or pivots, can interfere. But now I see those were just excuses. If you truly have a goal, you have to follow whatever leads you to fulfill it. Don't let obstacles get in the way. That's why, this year, I decided to set my own goals.
This will help me stay true to myself, stay motivated, keep my focus, and always have something to work toward. In those dead times, I won’t be stuck with nothing to do or be completely bored. Instead, I’ll be able to revisit this list, reflect on it, and see whether I’m moving in the right direction.
Of course, I didn't set any absurd or impossible goals. Since this is my first time trying, I picked some that are realistic. Still, I like to push myself, so a few are more challenging—just to remind me that I want to accomplish them, no matter how difficult. I'll learn a lot about myself as I work through them this year.
If you need some inspiration for your goals, here are all mine for this year:
I decided to separate them into three layers. The top layer includes goals that are more like "Principles" than typical goals—things I want to change about my own values this year, aspects I want to pay more attention to. The second layer covers medium-term goals, those that can't really be measured but will just happen as time goes by. And finally, the third layer contains measurable goals—things I can tick off at a specific moment. Either they happen or they don't; there's no middle ground. Here they are, separated by category:
Principles:
Medium-term goals:
Measurable goals: