3-Month Time Capsule Video

Towards the end of January, I had the idea to make a few “time capsule” videos for myself. I made a 3, 6, 12, 18, 36, 60 month videos. I recorded them all on my phone at the same time, uploaded them to individual Google Drive folders, added the link to a calendar event on my phone for the appropriate date, and deleted them off my phone. Borrow this idea for yourself, and see how it goes!

I recently opened my 3-month time capsule while traveling and already forgot all of the details. These goals were definitely ambitious. And they focused on the wrong things: outcomes vs inputs.

I was surprised by how much my life had changed in such a short time. I have never really been the person to plan 3, 5, 10 years out because so much can change.  I hope I’m wrong and things are totally different at that point (for the better, of course). Sometimes we can’t even imagine certain goals, lifestyles, or events in our current state of mind or environment.

We tend to overestimate how much we can get done in one year and underestimate how much we can get done in 3-5 years. As productive activities and good habits compound, growth accelerates, getting you to the “next level” faster. 

My 3-month goals were rather ambitious, and many of them were out of my control. That is, they weren’t focused on inputs I could control. For example, a goal for a specific dollar amount in my investment accounts. Continued market volatility didn’t help with that, and then 2 weeks after watching my time capsule video, the US market wiped away all of the losses year-to-date, and I was pretty close to my goal. Funny how the universe works. 

I had a goal to read 15 books, and so far I’m at 20 for 2925. That's a win! My fitness goal suffered from being on the road for 5 weeks. I had no routine, poor sleep, and didn’t eat like I normally would. It’s a good lesson to choose my battles and where I focus. It’s not always possible to do everything. 

I vaguely remember my 3 and 5 year videos focused less on specific goals, but more on mindset, lifestyle, and what I’m doing. More of a "what does my life look like and am I happy?" vs specific metric driven goals. Again, so much can change in that time, and I’m happy so long as I know roughly the direction I’m going and can course correct along the way. 

Did I hit all my goals? No. Did other things happen in my life that are equally awesome? Absolutely. Different opportunities, and challenges, presented themselves even within 3 short months. 

Next is the 6 month video at the end of July. Again, I can’t remember what all I put in that, but we’ll find out. In the meantime, I'll keep focusing on inputs, growth, and experiences. Can’t go wrong with that.