BAD: "I want to lose 10 pounds!"
Translation: Tell me how thin and attractive I already am.
GOOD: "I'm going to quit smoking."
Translation: I'm (probably) going to quit smoking. Any friends who smoke are dead to me for the next 2-6 weeks.
BAD: "I'm going to cut out Facebook for a week."
Translation: I'm way more popular than you, so I need to shut down a line of communication due to overflow. (Better not risk more than a week though, or no one will remember me and my hilarious status updates.)
GOOD: "I'd like to get into grad school."
Translation: Once I get around to it after a few months or years, I will apply to grad school.
Okay, so maybe that last one isn't so "good" after all. It's one of mine, and I think it illustrates how even the "good" shared goals can go bad - the act of sharing in itself FEELS like progress, even though it isn't. The more people you tell, the more certain you and your social circle become that this is going to happen, yet its actual likelihood is unchanged. It becomes a part of your self-image without any work on your part. I'm at some risk for that myself, but I'm hoping to channel the positive aspect of "sharing". I'm posting this goal so there's a bit of accountability for me...I HAVE to go to grad school now, or else abandon this illustrious blog in shame!
As to WHY I want to go, that might be reserved for another post. It's not terribly interesting, except in that I wouldn't have remotely considered the possibility two years ago. What could be a bigger waste of time than a life of academia, pumping out meaningless rhetoric all day long? Well...maybe it's fitting that I take my time-wasting abilities to a professional level.
