As you can see, I failed to provide “2 Blog posts per month” this year. Looking back, that was one hell of an ambitious goal. Maybe I could have done it, if we were permanently in a lockdown and I had time to spare like I did back then. But even then, writing takes work. It takes a lot to always feel creative and to consistently come up with content. And that’s okay, I had no idea. This is how we learn.
My last blog post was January 25th, 2021. LOL. I had set a goal of 2 blog posts per month, and successfully followed through for exactly one month (December). Then in January I decided that maybe 1 blog post per month would be more realistic. But gyms re-opened in February, and from there I unintentionally said Buh-Bye to any long form of creative writing as an outlet to express myself (besides faithful old Instagram). Oops.
It’s not that I didn’t think about it. I thought about it a lot in the spring, forgot about it pretty much completely in the summer, and was reminded of it lot more recently. I just couldn’t find the time to sit down long enough to actually write something. It would be on my list, but always at the bottom because there were more pressing things that needed my attention. This is life right? This is one of the reasons why people neglect their health and skip out on the gym, order in food, etc. We debate it at first, but whatever we choose to do more frequently is what we eventually end up doing automatically (Like Netflix and chill instead of Friday night at the barbell).
Anyways, I failed, and I gave up. I set an unrealistic expectation given my current life circumstances and I over-committed. I mean, my life circumstances also changed, but I didn’t re-evaluate and set new expectations, I just dropped it completely. For almost an entire year. Am I mad? No. I regret not making this post sooner, but to be honest I just hadn’t felt like it was a priority. And nothing has really changed for me either, I still have the bare minimum for time. I just realized that I spent all year not writing, and that disappointed me a little. And now, here I am writing. So obviously I haven’t completely given up. And I do WANT to write. I’m just trying to figure out how to create the right expectations for myself so that I can still use this as an outlet that I enjoy instead of turning it into something that is forced/that I have to do, which tends to eliminate the whole “enjoyment” part.
LIFE IS A WORK IN PROGRESS. WE ARE NOT PERFECT. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I went almost a year without writing a single post. BUT here I am, writing now. Why even bother? Well, because it’s something that I enjoyed doing. I felt accomplished and I felt good. And I even helped a few people in the process by sharing my story. And so here I am. Trying again. This time a little bit smarter. What did I learn? Even in a lockdown, 2 blog posts per month was a lot. And with everything at it’s peak for busy in terms of business, making time for something as trivial as writing my thoughts down in a word document seemed like a waste. But the thing is, it isn’t. Today I decided to sit down to eat my lunch and instead of programming, I chose to write this. Just because you stopped doesn’t mean you can’t pick it back up and do it again.
So, how are we going to do this? My new goal is to write once a week, for anywhere between 10-30minutes. Minimum 10. Preferably in the evening or late afternoon, and only if I feel inspired to write. There’s no point in forcing it. If I don’t one week, it’s not the end of the world, but the goal is to actually give myself the time to do it. From there, my new goal is to release 1 Blog post every 1-2 months, which is significantly more realistic than my first goal. This is something that I truly think I can make time for.
There. I failed, I gave up, but I’m back. And I’m smarter than I was before, and I learned from my experiences. This is a great example of adapting your plans as your life changes. Whether it’s with working out, eating better, writing, drawing, or literally any goal of yours, this works. Think of something that you’ve wanted to do for a while but haven’t had the chance to do, or something that you’ve tried and stopped, but you still want to do and haven’t figured out how to try again. Just start. Make notes from last time to keep you on track. You won’t regret it.
Here’s to another year of giving it my best.
Good luck with yours and Thanks for reading 😊,
Mercedes Wyenberg.