Failure

Well, I’ve been dealing with a reality for weeks now and refusing to call myself a failure. I have a fairly milestone birthday coming up and I had set some big goals for myself. Guess what, I’m not hitting any of them. Out of three goals . . not a one.

This is good timing, I think. I was talking with a kiddo the other day about goals. The kiddo didn’t like setting goals. Because if you don’t hit the goal, then you failed. So I hope the kiddo can see that, that’s simply not true. I haven’t failed. I made the goals. I can change the goals.

One goal was to be at a healthier weight by my birthday. I even bought an awesome “Turning 40” shirt to wear on my birthday at a smaller size . . to incentivize myself to stay on track. It will not fit. Honestly, I won’t even be trying it on. It would just be upsetting to me, so I really see no need for that. I will be 40 years old for a total of 365 days before I turn 41. That means I will have many more chances to hit this goal!

A second goal was to stay sleeping a healthy amount all year. I haven’t done that either . . which goes hand in hand with the not being at a healthy weight. I have done enough trial and error to know that my personal metabolism suffers greatly from improper sleep. So I dropped the ball here. But, the year isn’t over yet. I have at least three months left in the year to sleep a proper amount at night. I know I did good for at least four months at the beginning of the year. So, lookey here! If I can get my act together, I can have the majority of the year done! That’s much better than less than half the year! (I’m here to celebrate victories, do you see it?)

The third goal was to have a six month emergency fund personally and in the businesses. I have been working my butt off for months, which is why the first two goals didn’t happen as planned. But, along the span of this year, a large business investment became more urgent than I had planned on (thanks Covid!), $$ that would have went in to the emergency fund/retained earnings accounts are being to put good use elsewhere. So, I’ve extended this goal as well. This extension does not have an end date. In about a month I’ll have a better idea . . after the business investment is all done.

Tonight I am thankful that goals are not written in stone. And even if they were, I’d break the stone and find a new one to write on. The definition of success or failure is not in a person’s ability to check off items on a list. Goals are important! Dreams are important! They keep us moving forward and keep us believing in big things to come. But, goals will never define us. Meeting or not meeting goals will certainly never define me.

I know there are people out there talking about my missed goals in the past. Guess what? I don’t listen to those people. While they are sitting there gossiping, judging, and criticizing; I’m already smiling as I’m chasing my next goal. They can’t catch me from the sidelines. And if they are honestly concerned, I’d be happy to chat with them – let’s clear the air. 🙂