On Goals

byJessica_G

76 followers

Updated 11 months 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