I was really quite pleased when I reviewed the goals I had set for 2022 how many I had met, and it was pretty easy to roll them over with a little modification of details. I think the secret to my success came from a life-time of learning how to do a better job of coming up with achievable goals. But I can also see how this year what also was crucial was my willingness to modify those goals (rather than just fail to achieve them) along the way. As a simple example, I had as a goal, walk for 60 minutes every day. Then I broke my toe, which limited walking and then took a long time to heal. So, after reading an article that said that house cleaning was the exercise equivalent of moderate walking speed, I then started counting the time I spent cleaning every day, and viola! I was still getting in my 60 mins and once I was back up to walking 60 minutes I actually could up my goal to average 90 mins exercise a day. Instead of failure, I had turned this into success. In the past I would have thrown up my hands and probably gotten out of walking habit altogether as having "failed." And, keeping up the exercise helped me maintain the emotional and physical health to keep writing.. Again, while the specific publication goals shifted (a short story turned into a novella, and rewriting one novella was dropped to be the beginning of a novel in a completely different series) I did write 140,000 words this past year. So shifting from writing and publishing specific pieces shifted to getting certain number of words written a week and the result was a much more satisfying way to achieve that goal. And I think this echos your decision to both learn from experience and embrace uncertainty. May your year be full of lovely surprises that renew your optimism.
Your words definitely match my experience and changing attitudes and actions. I used to plan things like vacations many months, even years in a few cases, in advance. I used to be sure I’d stay in the same career (a traditional job with the illusion of security and guaranteed income) until I retired.
Then COVID hit and the world changed in ways no one expected. Many of us realized we didn’t want to return to the lives (or at least the jobs) we used to have; others lost their jobs involuntarily and were forced to find new ways to generate income.
Also, the nonrefundable plane tickets I bought in February 2020 for a summer trip became useless (though I was finally able to use the credit almost two years later).
The dream vacation I had carefully planned for 2021 after extensive research (and paid a deposit on, since one activity regularly sold out more than a year in advance) also got canceled.
So ... I don’t plan much anymore. I’m learning to go with the flow, try new things, and adjust my original strategies for getting where I think I want to go based on what happens along the way.
I’m realizing how little control I have over the outcomes I want, despite my plans and hard work, because there are so many variables I can’t predict or influence.
It’s a much healthier and more realistic approach to life, but I don’t always think that way. I miss the illusions of security and control. I sometimes still try to force specific outcomes and convince people to do what I want them to.
I’d rather know where I’m going, how I’ll get there, and how long it will take, even though I now know that’s not possible.
I was really quite pleased when I reviewed the goals I had set for 2022 how many I had met, and it was pretty easy to roll them over with a little modification of details. I think the secret to my success came from a life-time of learning how to do a better job of coming up with achievable goals. But I can also see how this year what also was crucial was my willingness to modify those goals (rather than just fail to achieve them) along the way. As a simple example, I had as a goal, walk for 60 minutes every day. Then I broke my toe, which limited walking and then took a long time to heal. So, after reading an article that said that house cleaning was the exercise equivalent of moderate walking speed, I then started counting the time I spent cleaning every day, and viola! I was still getting in my 60 mins and once I was back up to walking 60 minutes I actually could up my goal to average 90 mins exercise a day. Instead of failure, I had turned this into success. In the past I would have thrown up my hands and probably gotten out of walking habit altogether as having "failed." And, keeping up the exercise helped me maintain the emotional and physical health to keep writing.. Again, while the specific publication goals shifted (a short story turned into a novella, and rewriting one novella was dropped to be the beginning of a novel in a completely different series) I did write 140,000 words this past year. So shifting from writing and publishing specific pieces shifted to getting certain number of words written a week and the result was a much more satisfying way to achieve that goal. And I think this echos your decision to both learn from experience and embrace uncertainty. May your year be full of lovely surprises that renew your optimism.
Your words definitely match my experience and changing attitudes and actions. I used to plan things like vacations many months, even years in a few cases, in advance. I used to be sure I’d stay in the same career (a traditional job with the illusion of security and guaranteed income) until I retired.
Then COVID hit and the world changed in ways no one expected. Many of us realized we didn’t want to return to the lives (or at least the jobs) we used to have; others lost their jobs involuntarily and were forced to find new ways to generate income.
Also, the nonrefundable plane tickets I bought in February 2020 for a summer trip became useless (though I was finally able to use the credit almost two years later).
The dream vacation I had carefully planned for 2021 after extensive research (and paid a deposit on, since one activity regularly sold out more than a year in advance) also got canceled.
So ... I don’t plan much anymore. I’m learning to go with the flow, try new things, and adjust my original strategies for getting where I think I want to go based on what happens along the way.
I’m realizing how little control I have over the outcomes I want, despite my plans and hard work, because there are so many variables I can’t predict or influence.
It’s a much healthier and more realistic approach to life, but I don’t always think that way. I miss the illusions of security and control. I sometimes still try to force specific outcomes and convince people to do what I want them to.
I’d rather know where I’m going, how I’ll get there, and how long it will take, even though I now know that’s not possible.