Excess of Priorities
Working on multiple goals at the same time is just disguised entertainment.
During 2026, I managed to purge my life of a variety of goals, interests, and desires that I maintained with the illusion that one of them would eventually materialize.
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In the end, amidst all my human responsibilities—including work, raising my son, and daily household chores, among other matters from which I cannot detach myself—I managed, as the saying goes, to prune the tree. I settled on two large and serious goals that are realistically achievable and not mere intentions anchored in the clouds: first, to continue my disciplined production of content for Medium; and second, but no less important, to learn Chinese, to which I obviously can only dedicate my residual time.
As time went by, I saw that my energy and interest have completely shifted toward continuing to generate written essays, and that the time I invest in learning Chinese through an app like HelloChinese is minimal. It became a goal that continues to consume my energy in the background, even without doing anything other than thinking about when I will find the time to advance in that task of learning a third language.
When I decided to study Chinese, I did it for several reasons, among them to challenge my brain to learn new and different things, and also to have a kind of productive entertainment that would keep me away, for example, from YouTube downscrolling. But no matter how laudable the reasons for which I decided to embark on that enterprise may be, they are not motivating enough to find a space within my agenda, whether spontaneously or premeditatedly.
Constantly living and thinking about when you will finish a task or when you will advance in a project is just as draining and energy-consuming as having a labor, family, co-parenting, or social problem. Therefore, part of a human being's character lies in having the coldness sufficient to eliminate those things they think they want but never advance, whether academic studies, romantic relationships, or whatever.
Therefore, if I find myself at this moment defining what my goals or purposes for 2027 will be, I am clear that my time, energy, and attention will barely allow me to advance in this writing project, confirming what experience dictates: he who grasps too much, squeezes little. One priority is enough, and two are an excess.
