Where Do You Want To Be In 2023?
As I sit here feeling bloated and half frostbitten after suffering through weeks of subzero weather and eating way too many high-caloric Christmas foods I’m thinking of 2023 and what I want to accomplish. Finishing my next novel, Truth Is Stranger, is definitely high atop that list. Working on this new book has rekindled my love of writing fiction and has me thinking a lot about humanity’s next decade.
One thing fifty-one years on this rock called Earth with this crazy, wonderful, terrifying, and kind human family has taught me is to accomplish anything of worth life must be lived with two things, focus and intention. Unfortunately, achieving some modicum of both of these things isn’t easy in the moment in time we’re all living in. In 2022 distractions abound and, right now, the world is an absolute shit show of chaos, division, and confusion. This often happens during times of radical transition.
Profound Change Is Coming
We’re on the cusp of a transition more profound than the average person can even imagine. As we’re just beginning to see with ChatGPT and A.I. art platforms like Midjourney. These two examples are just the very tip of the iceberg of what is coming.
Down through the ages change has always been a constant in the human condition and, as a result, we’re equipped to deal with it better than almost any other species alive but in the next few decades change will come exponentially faster, sometimes more quickly than we feel like we can even process. Many problems that our human brains couldn't figure out will be effortlessly solved by A.I. but it will also present unimaginable challenges.
Imagine a future where deep fakes are so convincing that we won’t even be able to trust our own physical senses to tell us what’s real and what is not. Next year could be the year this begins to happen en masse.
How Do We Best Deal With This Change?
I believe those who will most successfully navigate this next phase of humanity’s confusing and mercurial future will be: 1.) those who are anchored in some kind of spiritual routine that helps to keep them centered and anchored in a deeper reality (meditation, qi-gong, yoga…just to name a few) ; and 2.) individuals who’ve learned to navigate the many unknowns and challenges of life with the aid of some proven philosophical framework.
I, personally, think Stoicism will be the best match for the phase of existence we’re on the cusp of entering but there are many others.
Like any other change we’ve encountered in our evolution, we will find a way to prevail but this transition won’t always be easy or comfortable. We have no way of predicting the challenges and the breakthroughs that are awaiting us in the not-so-distant future. What we can do is prepare ourselves for the transition in other ways by focusing on our physical, mental, and spiritual health. The best time to prepare for your future is yesterday but today is better than tomorrow. Procrastination will be more painful than ever. It will never be more important to learn to trust your instincts and and take action by pursuing the things that ignite your soul.
“The best time to prepare for your future is yesterday but today is better than tomorrow.”
For 2023 I’ll be doubling-down on my meditation routine and will work harder than ever to keep my body fit and prioritize maintaining inner peace. I also want to be ever more present for family and friends.
What Are Your Goals For 2023?
There’s no time like the present to ask yourself this question. Write down your answers and revisit them daily throughout this next year.
I hope you all had a wonderful Holiday with your loved ones and I wish you an abundant and peaceful 2023!
All for now. Trust your instincts, invest in you, live boldly, and take chances.
Poetry should move us, it should change us, it should glitch our brains, shift our moods to another frequency. Poetry should evoke feelings of melancholy, whimsy, it should remind us what it feels like to be in love, or cause us to think about something in a completely different way. I view poetry, and all art really, as a temporary and fragile bridge between our world and a more pure and refined one. This is a world we could bring into creation if enough of us believed in it. This book is ephemera, destined to end up forgotten, lingering on some dusty shelf or tucked away in a dark attic. Yet the words, they will live on in memory. I hope these words become a part of you, bubble up into your memory when you least expect them to and make you feel a little more alive.
Pick up a copy of Ephemera today on Amazon.
Most of us have experienced a moment of perfect peace at least once in our lives. In these moments we lose ourselves and feel connected to everything. I call these mindful moments. Words can’t describe how complete they make us feel.
These moments are usually fragile, evaporating in seconds. What if there was a way to train your mind to experience more of them? It’s deceptively easy and requires nothing more than a subtle shift in mindset. My new book, Mindful Moments, will teach you to be much more content despite the chaos and imperfect circumstances continuing to unfold around you. Upgrade your life experience today for only $15.99 on Amazon.com.
Let’s Keep In Touch
I can see where some people might turn to a combination of things to get them through. Most philosophies and religions are pretty rigid. If you can press the boundaries of those to find an area that is not as fixed and more welcome to change, you might be okay. I'm honestly a bit scared about this whole AI stuff. Like you said, deep fakes are going to be increasingly disruptive. If used out of spite or retaliation, they have the potential to ruin lives and careers. That's not a peaceful feeling at all.
Have faith instead of religion. Probably this is the best solution for this.
Good point.
I think mental fluidity and learning how to trust our instincts will be key during the time of transition that we're currently in. Philosophical frameworks that give us the tools to deal with uncharted territories and uncertainty will be especially invaluable, Stoicism fits that bill pretty well but so do some others. No one really has any idea what's coming once AI becomes sentient on a large scale.
It's scary to me. Not so much in a Terminator sort of way, but just an underlying bad feeling. I dunno.
The unknowns of it are scary to me too. I think complex problems like sustained nuclear fusion could be solved fairly quickly with the right AI, which will almost be a necessity because they’ll consume so much energy. I worry about bad actors behind the AI, hopefully humans don’t just weaponize them.
Preparing for the new year will really help to work towards achieving your desired goal when working to see the goals happen. Planning ahead will be appropriate without having a negative thought.
Procrastination is never the way forward but a sign of delay in chasing your desired dreams. It is very much important to take a step in chasing your dream without relenting which will definitely attract a positive response through the journey of success.
In my mind procrastination is even worse than paralyzation because, at the pace the world moves today, if we aren't making progress we aren't just standing still, we're falling behind.
What a thought provoking post to wind up the year with. Stoicism is the name of the game for me and has been for the better part of my life. It will take me a bit to come up with my own plan for 2023 and with 2022 fast coming to a close, I had best get started. Your writing has always been a catylyst for my inner brainworks lol
Here's hoping you have the best of opportunities and successes in the coming year!
Thank you Tamara, I'm glad to hear my writing has been a spark for you in some way! I found Stoicism later in life (last year) but wish I had come across it sooner. I had always believed the mainstream opinion that it just meant devoid of emotion, that couldn't be further from the truth. I hope your 2023 is filled with great things!
Overall 2022 is not good for me and my country because our economy condition is going very bad in this year. Everything prices increase 200'/'. I learned alot from my mistakes Never invest money in bull market. My 2023 goals to earn or buy 30 thousand hive and power up all and support to the new users. If some people are around you and are not with the heart, they can hurt you. Hopefully 2023 is good for us.
I'm so sorry to hear that 2022 was a bad year for you and your country. Inflation is running wild here in the U.S. Bread costs between $4 and $10 a loaf, I've seen eggs for as much as $12 a dozen. I hope you meet your goal! It's so tough to time the market. I don't think anyone could have predicted the FTX collapse and all of the other crypto hacks/scams that happened this year. All of this artificially shortened the bull market cycle, I think. I hope crypto springs back to life next year but I'm preparing for another year or two of stagnation/decline.
Healthy, live and on the special stages :)
In 2023 my priority will be my health and time with my family. 2022 has not been an easy year in many aspects for me, and I agree with you that 2023 will be a year of big changes in the world and our perception. Being prepared for it will certainly be a challenge and the sooner we address it the better.
I wish you all the best for the next year. Happy Holidays!
Thank you! Those are great resolutions. Happy New Year to you and your family!
In my opinion, it will be counterproductive. Just imagine a situation when we begin to doubt our intelligence with AI. Artificial intelligence can be handy only up to the point when it helps us complements our interface with a myriad of challenges and issues.
That's what I gonna fix and it's a resolution for 2023.
My Goals:-
Thank you, Sir Eric, your blog is always motivating and the sentence structure is always perfect. Always I tend to learn from you.
I agree, it won't be the Godsend or the curse that people think it will be. Most new technologies fall somewhere in between and remain there throughout their development. I think we will see some pretty complex problems solved that humanity hasn't been able to figure out.
Great goals for 2023, Milaan. I hope you accomplish each one. I'm glad you've gotten some value from my writing! Thank you for your thoughtful comment and I wish you a great 2023!
Dear @ericvancewalton,
Your support for the current HiveBuzz proposal (#199) is much appreciated but it will expire end of December!
May we ask you to review the new proposal (#248) and renew your support so that our team can continue their work next years?
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So many strong new year resolutions most of us will be making for 2023 but at the long run at the midway for the year, it is not achieved. I just hope 2023 will not be another 2022
I find it's easier if I write them down and look at them every day. I'm with you there...let's hope 2023 is better than 2022! Happy New Year to you.
Procastinar!!! That is perhaps the evil of many. We think we have time and life for everything, but in the end life is only a breath. This year has been hard around here, but I have been able to mature and learn lessons from each of the negative things I have experienced. And as I say, as long as my heart keeps beating, I must be thankful every day. This year I have also promised myself to finish my promotion work on Venezuelan literature. Maybe I will get another source of income that will make me live more comfortably: to have a better economy. I also want to travel and exercise again. Getting back to the Nancy I was before the pandemic will be a great challenge. Before ending these lines I can not fail to thank you and the goodness you breathe, for you and your family my best wishes in this new year. I hope that the light that you are continues to shine in its maximum splendor. I embrace you tightly, Eric!!!
I fall victim to our old enemy, procrastination, too! It's strange sometimes how it seems the universe opens up and works with us the moment we take that first step towards our goals. I'm sorry to hear about your struggles in 2022. I can't imagine how hard that's been. The economy is bad here in the US but not nearly as bad as Venezuela. The prices for everything, especially food, just keep rising. I wish you luck on attaining your goals! A little bit every day starts to form a habit and once the habit is formed it becomes much easier. As always, thank you very much for supporting my work this year. I wish you and your family a much better 2023!
Wonderfully said :-)
I'm thinking it will require a combination of flexibility while still being anchored. Standing in the wind and letting it away your body without taking your feet out from under you... maybe something like this 😆
Thank you @dreemit! Flexibility will be needed, for sure. We'll figure out a way to integrate AI into our lives but it will just be disruptive at first.
I am 48 and I plan in the new year, despite the years, to continue to learn something new and lead an active lifestyle, feel young and no matter what numbers are written in the passport. And I have one dream, so that peace will come between our countries, if this is not possible, then at least they will stop killing.
I am dreaming for peace as well. 2022 was a year of such horrible violence.
To live the best life I can!
Ai actually scares me, to be honest. We cannot seem to do without it and it is capable of running our lives for us, plus the darker sie of it.
I hope you had a Merry Christmas and that your New Years is bright!
That is always a great goal, Denise!
I agree, any disruptive new tech like AI is scary at first. I do believe many good things will come out of it too though. This has the potential to be as transformative as the Industrial Revolution was.
I wish the same for you! I was exposed to Covid at Christmas and three other family members have it. I'm still testing negative but have symptoms so I don't know if I'll eventually test positive or if my immune system will win.
I agree the potential has enormous potential, but, I worry about that being used against us. (look at Covid, whoever thought?)
Oh, you may win, but, my thought is you may have a weaker version of it. God is good, who else would take care of the family? :) I am rooting for the immune system!
Happy New Year to you!! I raise my glass to a great 2023!
That is a very valid concern to have, Denise!
I definitely have a weaker variant, this isn't even in the same ballpark as the first few strains. As of this afternoon I'm STILL testing negative but definitely have it. From what I've seen online this means you have a strong immune response.
Happy New Year! I highly doubt I'll make it to see the ball drop before hitting the hay!
My first goal for 2023 is to continue travelling abroad as before the pandemic, but with worsening conditions like high prices...
Traveling is also one of my major goals for next year. We'll have to find creative ways to beat the price hikes! Happy New Year to you!
Scary but also exciting days! I plan to try to enjoy them the best I can, come what may...
I'm more excited than scared but there is a little trepidation when I think about it. The next few years will be truly transformative. There's so much opportunity right now. These larger tech companies are too big to make huge pivots.
“The best time to prepare for
your future is yesterday but
today is better than tomorrow.”
Really inspiring words. You are right, it's time to enjoy what we have fought for in the past.
My goal in 2023 is to stay healthy so I can enjoy life and do good to all creatures according to God's commands.
Have a nice day, Eric.
Thank you Eliana! Staying healthy is goal number 1 always. Without health we can't enjoy life to its fullest. Happy New Year!