Thoughts on Summer

I have a strong drive within myself to make sure that I have a meaningful summer.

I think that meaning must be created if it does not come on its own. I've been fortunate to have encountered this sense of meaning in past summers.

To create meaning, I have to start by imagining the type of person I would like to be and to remember how much better I could be if I became that type of person. I have to raise my own standards and make a plan toward elevating myself. I must subdue one's internal urges to break from discipline and endure difficulty.

For the past few weeks, I've been setting an ideal about what a meaningful summer would look like for me. That meant a summer in which I would not feel guilty at having not worked enough. (It's a terrible feeling to regret my summer choices right when fall is around the corner.)

I started by making a small number of goals for myself. For the next ten weeks, I set daily goals of: 1) Spending a minimum of 5 hours on my research project 2) Limiting my entertainment (YouTube, Chess, Quora) to a maximum of 1.5 hours and 3) Exercising daily.

Part of my learning that I applied when setting is these goals is the realization that my time is limited. I often fail if I set too many or too strong goals. I would like if I could work towards my goals at a fast pace, but my discipline has its limits.