Have all those plans and goals and resolutions we made in January come to fruition?

What?

You mean, you haven’t completed all your lofty goals?

I haven’t completed all of mine either.

I read somewhere that a goal is simply a goal post, something to shoot for.

If you make it, fantastic.

If you don’t, at least you aimed at the post.

I like that idea.

Of course, it would be swell if every time we aimed for something we succeeded.

But sometimes having the gumption to aim is a pretty big win.

I don’t know the statistics, but look around you:

How many people do you see who don’t even aim?

I know it can be frustrating to see your list of goals and realize you can’t check them off.

But how about reframing that picture?

If you have taken steps toward your goal, if you have aimed and moved forward, you’re better off than if you had just sat on the couch eating Cheetos. (Unless that was your goal. Then, yay, you!)

I think that the steps toward checking off a goal can oftentimes be more meaningful than achieving the goal because of what you learn along the way.

It’s like the proverbial journey vs destination.

The journey is always eye-opening and full of joy and misery and lessons.

Once you’ve reached your destination, you have a Story to tell. (And please don’t compare your journey to anyone else’s.)

So while goals give me something to aim for and a reason to get up in the morning, at the end of the day, I’m happy if I can say I worked on them.

Sure, I would have liked to have finished revising one of my books as I resolved to do back in January.

That didn’t happen.

But what I did do was add some things to it to make it more interesting.

I think I’ve finally found the heart of the story.

Unfortunately, then I went and made it more complicated to the point where I couldn’t imagine a way to put the puzzle pieces together in any feasible manner.

So I cut out a big plot point, and now it makes sense and I am moving forward again.

I consider that a win.

I have another book that I wanted to finish writing, and I did.

Victory!

I haven’t started revising it yet, though, as I thought I would.

But I don’t have hard deadlines from agents or editors (just a writing coach friend who also keeps me motivated).

It’s only me sitting quietly in my room, tapping away on my laptop, listening to the voices in my head.

You know what else I consider a win?

I still love what I do.

I love what consumes my time.

I hope you, too, can say that about what consumes your time.

I hope you aren’t so hard on yourself that something you love has become a chore.

So we have two more weeks left of 2024.

Keep going, keep aiming, keep reaching for those stars.

In the cracks between all the baking and wrapping and visiting and whatever else this season brings, make the time to do what you still love to do, what still brings you daily happiness.

And I’ll leave you with a quote from Jane Austen because it’s her birthday today: “[Keep your focus on] all those little matters on which the daily happiness of private life depends…”~from Emma.

And here’s a quote from Henry David Thoreau (fun fact: he was born six days before Jane Austen died): “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.”

Until next time,

~ Gail

Countdown: 16 days left of 2024

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