So here I am again, trying to kick start my writing one more time. Frankly, it's beginning to feel like quitting tobacco with all the starts and stops. But given that it's been almost two years since I got off the nicotine I figure if I keep at this enough times eventually it'll stick too. I actually enjoy writing; when my brain is working well enough to do so. And in the second half of 2017 that was almost never. But it's not 2017 anymore, it's 2018 and with the changing year also came changing goals. So here I am, sitting at my computer once again, coffee to my left, my fancy new Protopreneur Protoplanner (more on this later) day planner to my right and a quickly filling blank screen before me.I won't cover too much of last year today because to do so would remove some potential topics for future posts. And frankly, I'm not confident that I can consistently come up with new topics on the fly as I've done previously so I need to maintain ideas already in development. I do have the second part of the concussion post begun and that's very likely to need a third and perhaps fourth installment. I'm hoping to do an update on my intermittent fasting fairly soon as well for those who are or have been interested to read how that's coming. But for today I'm foregoing discussing those topics and instead will discuss some information regarding goals, goal setting, and adapting goals to fit circumstances. And this blog is a perfect place to begin that discussion.
Entering 2017, I had the goal to write two posts per month. Before my concussion relapse I was actually producing closer to a post per week. I felt like I was on fire. I had ideas and those ideas were turning into words. My writing was getting better and more fluid. Don't get my wrong, I was a long ways away from being an actual professional but the consistent practice was clearly paying dividends. And then, if you read this blog, you know that everything came to a screeching halt mid summer and after that almost nothing. It's taken me this long to get back on the horse and to even get this far, some serious changes have been required.
First, I had to decide if this was still something I wished to pursue. Given that it absolutely is, next I had to come up with production goal. Last year I began with two posts per month. Currently that feels a little daunting so for 2018 it'll be a single post per month. If I manage to hit one or two extra here and there, fabulous. But for this year, this entire year, I'm keeping the one post per month goal. Doing so alleviates the possibility that I'll add any additional pressure regarding this task and that's an important part of my recovery and life change requirements. Third, I've planned a day for blog production weekly. For now, it's Monday evenings for an hour. At that time I'll brainstorm, write, edit, ect that months work. Perhaps I'll have something I can post the next day or maybe it'll take all four monthly sessions to have something shareable but it doesn't matter. I have time carved out to write. Just like I have time set aside for studying, working out, spending time with family, ect. It's not to say I can't write at others times if I'd like as well, this simply gives me a fixed window for this task.
The Simple Things is not the only place I've been working on some goal adjustments but it's obviously the most relevant here. The truth is I've had to make many adjustments and one of the biggest was opening up to allowing some fluidity with my goals. While I think some goals should be more rigid than others, the reality is that life happens and sometimes we have to change what we're doing on the fly. Sometimes we can detour around said changes and get back on the same path we were on previously, sometimes we have to seek a new path, and other times we have to change the destination all together. The hard part is deciding which move is required. Too much rigidity and one risks constant failure. Too much fluidity and no real goals will ever be set or met. All such decisions must not only be made on a case by case basis, but the method for making the decisions must be carefully analyzed as well. The need for consistent, unbiased review of ones path and goal is a paramount yet often overlooked part of a successful process. In truth, it can be tricky to not become so overly focused with planning and reviewing that work is never accomplished but being aware of the possibility that that can happen is a good first step to avoiding it. This is where having support comes in handy. And I say this as someone who's overly independent and does not like to ask for help (drives my wife NUTS). Your support has the ability to see things you don't, brings different experiences and perspectives to the table, and can let you know when you're off track. You might not want to hear what they have to say, may not like their opinions, but even if you choose to stick to your original plan, there's value in having as much information as possible. The reason I have my new planner is due to my wife. She had one and I really liked what she was doing with it so she purchased one for me and has been helping to set it up in a way that will hopefully enable me to accomplish more. Her support will hopefully enable me to pursue my own dreams in a healthier and more efficient manner and had it not been for her and coming up with these solutions, if I wasn't currently experiencing another relapse I'd be damn close it.
And there we have it, both my first post in the past three months as well as my first post of 2018. Won't lie, this feels like a huge win. Not only that I somehow managed to get the damn thing written and live before the end of January making me 1 for 1 this year. Who's to say what next month will bring but tonight it doesn't matter. Tonight I'm on track for the year. Tonight, with post ideas in tow and a couple weeks to work on them, I'm ahead of the game. Tonight I'll hit publish and The Simple Things will be live once again and trust me, that's No Simple Thing.
