I DON'T CARE IF NOBODY EVER READS THIS: A BLOG ABOUT GOALS

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There are 33 weeks and 3 days left until the end of 2021. I know that because I asked Google. Why did I ask Google this question? Well, to answer that, we must take a step back in time. 

During the first week of 2021 I created a list of goals for myself for this year. Goals that I developed after much reflection on where I was in my life and where I want to be in the future. Goals that would serve as both motivators and stepping stones to help me achieve what my heart desired. Goals that were written while still maintaining gratitude and appreciation for my current status in life because I believe it's important to always acknowledge how far we've come.

As I was creating my list, I decided to choose goals over resolutions because goals are flexible, re-workable and do not have finite boundaries. They can (and in my opinion should) be reflected upon frequently and changed or modified during the process of working towards them if values change or new inspiration motivates a new direction. I see goals as stepping stones to achieving your highest potential; visions that can be worked towards but not failed at so long as effort is given. Resolutions on the other hand tend to come with a feeling of "I must" or else there will be some kind of consequence, most likely a feeling of failure and/or self loathing. Booerns to that because feeling like a failure doesn't get anybody anywhere.

For example, in March I set a goal to go to the gym a few times a week to ride the stationary bikes so that my legs would be in great shape for biking season (I know some people bike year round but I am not that hardcore at present and may never be). I went once, ONCE, remembered that I absolutely despise the gym (nothing against gym goers) and instead decided to just continue with my daily walks until the trails were ice free. I then modified my goal to bike when it was cooler than I liked outside. The result was that I realized how much I actually enjoyed biking in the cooler weather ​and my daily walks ended up keeping my legs in pretty good shape anyway. Had I made a resolution to go to the gym throughout the month of March, I would have failed and probably drowned my feelings in a bag of chips but, I digress.

My list of goals is large and there are some I likely will not achieve, others may have to be moved to future years due to pandemic restrictions and others may no longer be my goals as I grow and change and the world grows and changes. Nevertheless, I check in on my goals list semi-regularly and continue looking for opportunities to make headway on achieving them. Some of the goals such as practicing daily affirmations, reading more, and starting to learn a new language are easier to work towards and I am happy to say that I am pleased with the progress I am making (I can no longer walk the coastline without naming everything I see in German). Other goals on my list are more difficult and will require much more effort.

If you've read some of my previous posts, you know that a big goal of mine is to continue to develop my writing skills as well as my confidence in sharing my written work and my authentic life journey. A goal that sounds easy in writing but is actually quite challenging when you add in the pull of emotions and years of societal conditioning. 

In effort to motivate myself to keep pushing on with the development of these skills I asked myself on that first week of January how I could break my goal down into tangible steps (mini goals). The answer I came up with was to write 20 new pieces of content for my blog in 2021. I knew this would be a challenge but I also knew that if I managed to do it, I would feel a great sense of accomplishment. Even if I don't reach 20 blog posts, working towards that goal will yield more posts and thereby more experience in writing and putting myself out there than if I did not set this goal at all and so, I wrote it down in permanent ink on my goals list. Then, I proceeded to go right back to my old habits of obsessing over profectionism and procrastinating (insert hand on face emoji).

In all fairness, I was dealing with a lot and needed some time to step back at take a little self care. Nevertheless, I did manage to publish one blog post in February and then in perfect perfectionistic fashion put roughly 50 hours spread over many days/weeks(?) into writing another blog post about my experience doing a 31 day polar dipping challenge. And, despite all the realizations I came to about how perfectionism holds me back in my February post I still agonizied over sentence structure, wording and incorporating every little detail I learned in a content strategy and writing for SEO course I took. Then, the day I went to publish it, I came to discover it had somehow completely vanished from my computer (insert two hand on face emoji's). A sign perhaps from the universe to chill the flip out and just try writing for the sake of enjoying writing. I had some choice words for the universe on that day.

All that aside, when it all comes down to it, there will always be things to deal with in life and annoying setbacks are inevitable. But, if I let those things be excuses to not work towards my goals then I will live a life of underachievement and most certainly look back and say "Well shit" come the day that my body decides I die. A scenario that just the very thought of scares me into taking action. 

So here I go, attempting once again to work on my writing. Only this time, I am coming at it with a different perspective. Although I can't say I didn't fiddle with the sentence structure several times, this post was not written for SEO optimization, I only spent a handful of hours writing it instead of days and days and I am going to hit publish despite the fact that I know I could write it even better if I put in more time. Furthermore, I am not even going to get hung up on wether or not one single person reads this post. While undeniably I hope that it does get read and inspires someone, somewhere to reflect on their own goals and perhaps their self talk around them, ultimately, this blog post is for me. This is my stepping stone and this is me putting in the effort because it dawned on me this morning that 2021 is ticking away and after consulting with Google, I realized I only have 33 weeks and 3 days left to try and complete 19 now 18 blog posts!


Peace, love and thank you for following me on my journey of discovering what's possible,

Jess


Also, being "woo woo" as I am you know I also had to Google the meaning of 333 and do my delight, I found this:

"Angel number 333 is a sign of significant growth in a positive direction, so have confidence in yourself moving forward that this is the best time to focus on thinking positively."

BAAAAAM! Well if that ain't a sign, I don't know what is.



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Comments 2

Jessi on Thursday, 27 May 2021 14:30

Hi Cris,
Thank you for your response
I am so glad you are able to relate to my experience of the pandemic and creative blocks. Also, I completely agree.. finding ways to keep our minds and spirits moving towards optimism is SO key.
I am glad you enjoy my blogs.
Cheers to epic living

Hi Cris, Thank you for your response :) I am so glad you are able to relate to my experience of the pandemic and creative blocks. Also, I completely agree.. finding ways to keep our minds and spirits moving towards optimism is SO key. I am glad you enjoy my blogs. Cheers to epic living
Guest - Cris sonntag on Monday, 24 May 2021 11:46

Thank you Jessie
I am not a young woman like you, but NEVERTHELESS feel the need to find ways to keep my life Andmy spirit Moving towards OptomIsm , hope and creativity. I am an Artist and musiciaN. SubjecT to mood swings and Creative blocks. The Pandemic has both forced my hand to create and at times frozen me solid. I look forward to Your blogs

Thank you Jessie I am not a young woman like you, but NEVERTHELESS feel the need to find ways to keep my life Andmy spirit Moving towards OptomIsm , hope and creativity. I am an Artist and musiciaN. SubjecT to mood swings and Creative blocks. The Pandemic has both forced my hand to create and at times frozen me solid. I look forward to Your blogs
Guest
Friday, 29 September 2023

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