I got back home from getting a haircut, saw my daily reminder email to write my 750 Words (a daily writing journal site). Then a sudden realisation came over me, ‘shit’ I forgot to write my journal yesterday. Well, there were a few other words too.
Well no big deal, it is just one day. However, I was on a mission to write the 750 words each day for whole year without missing a single day. I was on 171 days of that mission, and forgot. So nearly half way to the target.
I have now set up a daily alarm on the phone to remind me.
Initially, after the annoyance had gone, I felt a little demotivated, the thought of having to start the streak again from zero and write every day from now for nearly 6 months, just to get back to day 171, was fairly uninspiring.
A few moments of reflection and then, really, does one day matter? Even at the end of 365 days, if I have written 364 days, missing just one, then that is still a big achievement, and that achievement is important to me and no one else.
That is the thing with goals and targets, we make the rules, and success is a personal thing, and the outcome is what matters to us.
I would have previously allowed missing one day to put a downer on things, I would have beaten myself up and in some cases given up on the goal.
There is no good dwelling on it, we are all human, and it is the overall outcome that matters, not one small part.
Well, before writing this blog, I have just completed today’s 750 Words, I am still on my mission and I have written 172 days out of 173 and I have another 193 days to complete the year.
Never let a set back effect the overall outcome, whether big or small.
Philip Dodson 