Shauna Bickley

Checking In On Our Dreams And Goals

Posted on Sunday 24th January 2021 by Shauna Bickley

…and here we are hurtling towards the end of January. For so far, 2021 is looking a lot like 2020 which started me thinking about how we measure time in days, weeks, months and years. The calendar we use is made up and has been changed many times, not to mention that around the world as well as historically there are many variations.

New Year marks a date in time that we give special credence to and we mark its arrival with celebrations and resolutions although it is basically a day like any other. By this time in January, and often before, we are reproaching ourselves about those broken resolutions. That’s if we can even remember them.

I’ve long since given up making resolutions, but I do create goals which I update as and when necessary. For several years, one of my goals has been to write and publish two novels within a twelve-month period. Last year I managed a published novel and a novella and before that the best I’d managed was one published novel and a first draft.

I could, and on bad days I do, feel bad about taking so long with this goal, but I also see an improvement in the quality of my writing as well as inching closer to making my goal.

We often expect too much of ourselves too soon. Goals are sometimes harder to accomplish than we think, or life pushes obstacles in our way. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s fine if my goals are taking longer than I anticipated as long as I’m still working on them and heading in the right direction.

If we didn’t dream big we’d never have all the technological advancements that we do and I would never have started writing my first novel. When talking about going to the Moon, JFK said they weren’t doing it because it was an easy goal to reach, but because it was hard and a challenge they would win.

We should dream big and set goals to get there, AND celebrate the milestones along the way rather than berate ourselves when it takes us longer to get there than we’d imagined.