In January, I set a goal for myself to write for at least 20 minutes, five days a week. (Reference post Goals Are Scary)
I didn’t meet that goal.
I basically worked on writing when I could, for as long as I could, and didn’t really end up keeping track of the time, but I know it wasn’t as often as I wanted it to be, according to my goal.
BUT…
Setting that goal made me write more than I ever had, and more consistently. It just wasn’t on a set schedule.
In that post, I talked about how failing to reach a goal is the scary part. And it’s why many of us don’t set goals at all.
But through finally setting a goal and working on it, I was able to accomplish a separate goal – to complete my writing assignment.
Sometimes, it doesn’t really matter if you fully meet the goal, or if you meet it in exactly the “right” way.
It only matters that you get to where you are going in the end.
With that said, I do believe that setting goals is very important.
If anything, it gets you to constantly think about what you are wanting to do and get to and be.
Even though I didn’t write as much as my goal was, it had me thinking about my goal every day.
The definition of a goal is:
the object of a person’s ambition or effort; an aim or desired result.
It’s something to aim at and focus on so that you are going toward your desired result.
Goals really aren’t supposed to be scary for us; they’re supposed to be something to help us, but so many times we end up putting too much pressure on them and on ourselves, and it ends up taking away the good and just leaves the negative “what if I don’t meet my goal??” thoughts.
I would encourage you to look at what you are wanting to do or be and set a goal (a realistic goal, of course) of how you will get there.
Mine was to work on my writing for 20 minutes, five days a week, which seemed realistic and possible, and I worked with it.
I would honestly rather have hundreds of mostly-met goals, than just a handful of met goals.
It was also helpful to get my goal out of my head and say it to other people. It ends up putting good pressure on, and makes you take it a little more seriously.
Anyone have a goal stuck in their head? Comment it below to get it out into the world!
I have many goals! I would like to learn more about criminal justice and forensics. I would like to focus more on being more healthy. I would also like to sing more again. I used to love to sing and I thought I was ok at it. But I got sick once and my voice has never been the same. So I would absolutely love to start singing again. But I get discouraged because I feel like I don’t sound good or decent anymore. Lol talking about all of this makes me want to work on a vision board or a goal list or something like that. Any suggestions or recommendations on how to make one or tips on how to stay motivated? (I absolutely love your blog posts BTW 💜)
Hi T! I appreciate that so much! Vision boards are really great. You have to keep it where you can look at it everyday so that what you want is always on your mind. It will make it easier to start working toward those things, whether it’s singing or learning more about what you are interested in (forensics and criminal justice sounds so interesting!) Look for pictures that inspire you and make you want to move toward your goals. I wish you the best of luck and hope you let me know how it goes in the future!!!