On Goals

byJessica_G

80 followers

2 years ago

Goals are interesting.

At times you need them to be rigid, exacting things…and sometimes you need them to flex and adapt as you respond to life’s demands. I have recently benefitted from both types.

The First Style of Goal

I joined WA in July 2023 but made minimal progress until October, when I said, “I WILL keep my time goal from this point forward. If I miss it one week, I’ll make it up.” My modest goal was for 6 hours/week.

It took a few weeks to get used to. Most of October I was still way behind on my commitment yet determined to keep my promise.

In November I found a way.

I better allocated time for focused desk-style work, and also realized where I could consistently squeeze work in (mostly on my phone while holding my sleeping baby). I met and exceeded my cumulative time goal, watched my site turn into a more rich space (rich as in content and design), and began to ride some momentum. Soon, a 6-hr-per-week goal was worthless…I was spending double to triple that amount, falling in love with this occupation and craving progress.

The Second Style of Goal

It was time to set a new goal. I decided to make my next goal achievement-based instead of time based. I thought to myself, “Ok, 3 posts a week will keep my site in good health”, and had an idea of the types of posts I would create for each week. I set the goal at 3 and jumped in with the same tenacity as with my time goal. I would do it each week. It was a stay-up-til-it’s-done type of attitude.

Week 1 my 11-month old got RSV. I held her in my arms for days—actual days while she slept and recovered. I worked quite a bit still—completing training, offering site comments, reading books in my niche, doing jaxxy research, etc., but writing full blog posts in my phone while holding a sick baby is a no-thank you. I only published 1 post that week (Little miss Em is much better now ❤).

’Ok,’ I thought, ‘I’ll regroup. Keep my goal. Get 5 posts published this next week.’ Did some good work, took some time away at the library on a Saturday when my husband could watch the kids…1 post completed.

Sigh. At this point I’m starting to recognize that 3 may be a bit high for my current stage in life (I have 4 kids, home-schooling 2 of them, going crazy over all of them 🤪). This is where the adaptability of a goal comes into play. I changed the goal to 2 published posts a week with make-up posts still accounted for.

Fast forward to a week later where even that goal—reasonable as it is—has fallen out of place as I have run into the Christmas scurry. I wanted to hold on with some professional grit, but today I could sense that it’s doing more harm then good. I need to have a certain love of writing to do my best work, not a stress-inducing torturous requirement hanging over my head.

I finally adapted the goal from achievement-based to simple consistency: I will enjoy time spent writing every night, however much or little makes sense. I have no intention of stressing over exactly what that number is at the end of the week, or even if it’s all for my website. If it’s for my 1-yr old‘s baby journal, great! Anything goes, free to create.

The great thing is, this chameleon-like goal that kept changing color until it fit my life‘s surroundings is perfect for right now. I am peaceful and optimistic; looking forward to my website’s growth. I am not letting myself down or giving up on my dreams, but instead honoring what myself, my family, and my business needs.

And hey, it means tonight I get to be here writing this blog. 😉

I hope we will each be able to recognize when we need goals that shift, and when we need goals that never surrender.

Jess