This is what seems counterintuitive: having goals makes things simpler.
Consider: I haven’t cut my hair in over 13 months now, except for a trim here or there. It’s long, a touch over ten inches maybe, and quite long for a guy. (Within the department, it’s only the second longest–I’ve got about 6 inches on the third longest, but am about 10 inches short for the lead.)
Half of me wants to cut it, primarily because short hair is easier to manage. But I like the idea of longer hair and some days, if I do say so myself, it looks really freakin’ good. Of my friends, about 75% of them like it long, but in the minority are people like my sister, who has the best sense of style of anyone I know. So.
My usual M.O. is to get it cut short, grow it out for 9 months, get it cut short again, rinse, repeat. It’s not that I ever regret getting it cut, but if I do, it would take a year to get it back and it’s an investment of time I’m not sure I want to make. There isn’t a clear good here either way.
Now, number 100 on the master list is to get my hair long enough I can donate it to an organization that makes wigs for children with cancer. There’s is a noble goal; mine? maybe not so much. But having on the list makes my course clear and I can stop worrying about whether to cut it or not. I think I need to give it another 4-6 months.
Goals limit options, but since I set the goal, I’m okay with it. In the bad ol’ days, I only realized the first part.
This goes doubly well for my financial goals, though that’s a post for another day.