Just Get a Point
Realistic realizations about goal-setting, plus quality content recommendations.
When we started this newsletter, we promised to write primarily for ourselves, and said that we wouldn’t be offended if it’s not for you. So before even getting started, I should emphasize, this is a piece about my goal-setting. After all, my goals are for me. Except for my goal of flossing more, which is for my dentist.
I’ve always been pretty good at goal-setting. In 2019, I wanted to read 15 books (almost did it), reduce my screen time (made progress), improve my posture (progress), meditate daily (progress), floss daily (completed...for the dentist), and eat clean six days per week (called it “not eating poison” and completed it).
In 2020, I wanted to read 8 books (smashed it), improve my posture (made more progress, especially since I bought this), learn how to DJ (progress, since I bought this), improve my sleep (tough since after March 1, I did not stay in the same bed for more than four weeks straight, but still progress, since I started to read this), and reduce my screen time to < 3 hours (did it, thanks to this).
Not a lot of completed goals there, sure, but a good amount of progress. To quantify things (and since the Florida Panthers are off to one of the best starts in franchise history) we’ll use hockey scoring to verify my self-proclaimed “pretty good” goal-setting. Wins (completed goals) are worth two points, overtime losses (ooh so close!) are worth one point, and losses (incomplete) are worth zero.
By my unofficial count, in the last two years, I’m 4-0-7. Four wins, zero losses, seven overtime losses. That’s 15 points in 11 games, putting me on pace for 112.5 points in an 82-game season. Generally good enough to finish near the top of the league! Hockey teaches us a lot of things (just go with it), but perhaps none more important than the value of just getting a point.
Combining the exercise of writing for myself with a scoring system for grading my goals, and then using that made up scoring system to gauge my progress against a completely unrelated field, I have concluded what I already knew: I am good at doing the whole goal-setting thing and just average at following through on them. But I got a point!
The colloquialism “stay present” is often learned through meditation, yoga, and aesthetically pleasing Instagram accounts. But in sitting down to write today about whatever came to mind, I have actually concluded something else: trying to stay present has no more actionable practice than during that of goal-setting. Appreciate the point!
A lot of people are anti-resolutions, but not me. I’m not scared to use that word and you shouldn’t be either. Fire up your false hope machine! Set those goals. No, make those “resolutions.” Because only once you set out to earn your points can you appreciate the reward of getting a point.
The above tweet from two years ago is moderately relevant to the topic. Most of my goals revolve around being more productive. Put another way, they revolve around me being content with how I spend my time. It’s been a constant struggle, for sure, but this piece has finally made me stop and appreciate the progress I’m relentlessly striving for. I’m not yet where I want to be, maybe I’ll never be, but I’m doing a better job of appreciating the points.
The Forty-Year-Old Version
This film was a steady presence in my “Suggestions For You” on Netflix, but it wasn’t until its repeated inclusion in the Times’ critics list of recommended Best Picture nominees that I made a point of watching it. My hesitation had a lot to do with the title. A title that riffs off of another movie automatically puts ideas of the previous film in your head. Don’t make the same mistake I did. This is an amazing movie. Radha Blank is a friggin’ force. She wrote, directed, and starred in this wholly original—with the exception of the title—film about a struggling middle-aged playwright who discovers she has a talent for rap. It’s a stinging critique on the types of art Black creatives “get” to make (“poverty porn,” as Blank calls it) and a touching story about love, family, and friendship that is beautifully shot in black and white. Watch it tonight and put your phone out of reach so you can enjoy it to the fullest.
–Justin
Intermediaries, by Tara Donovan
This past weekend, I had a chance to walk around galleries in Chelsea. This is one of those quintessential New York City activities where every time you do it, you love it and promise yourself you’re going to do it more and then never do. It felt even more special because this was my first time doing so since the pandemic. Tara Donovan’s “Intermediaries” show at Pace was a standout (along with Gordon Parks at Jack Shainman gallery). Donovan plays with scale and everyday objects in a fascinating way. A massive sphere sculpture is made entirely of clear tubes that offer a mysteriously opaque view to the other side. Massive wall hangings are assembled from black plastic straws and seem to move with the viewer. It’s truly something to behold, especially when the very act of beholding seemed impossible 11 months ago.
—Justin
The Story of a ‘Super Perfectionist’: How Frank Ocean Made ‘Nostalgia, ULTRA.’
"Generally when people talk about the best cast I think, well, that's when they were in high school… Because in high school you have the least amount of power you're ever gonna have... Staying up with friends later on a Saturday is great, and people attach to a cast." —Lorne Michaels
This quote about the best SNL casts nails how I feel about Nostalgia Ultra, which came out during my junior year of high school. I had just got my first car and, now 17 years old, driving curfew was pushed back to 1AM. “Nostalgia, ULTRA” was the soundtrack to many late night drives — windows down, 7 MPH over the speed limit.
Frank is not much of a public figure — his creative process is relatively unknown. So it was really nice, 10 years later, to get a deep-dive oral history of such a… nostalgic album.
—Andrew
*the album is not available on Spotify