April 17, 2009

Last night I attended my grandson’s preschool Easter program. Yes, it was four days after Easter. Several incidents and illnesses had conspired to make the delay unavoidable.

However, the program was fun, the kids entertaining (especially my grandson!), and the delay made no difference. If anything, the program was better than ever because they’d had a few more days of practice.

Writing Delays

Sometimes our writing goals get postponed like that. Mine do–and more often than I like to admit. I set deadlines for myself–always have–but sometimes I don’t meet them. Often it’s my own fault, but frequently it’s due to events beyond my control.

Life simply happens to everyone–family issues, health issues, day job issues–and those events often cause delays in meeting our writing goals.

What’s Your Response?

My usual attitude toward myself for missing a deadline I’ve set is to beat myself up. As if berating myself (calling myself lazy and unfocused and a procrastinator and a people pleaser) fixes anything! What good does that do? None–and it does a lot of harm.

I decided last night that the next time I miss a deadline, I’m going to try to be like my grandson’s preschool teacher who was showcasing the Easter program four days after Easter. She didn’t beat herself up, blame anyone, or act like an apologetic failure. She was relaxed and happy and glad to see a great turn-out. The program was delightful. Next time I’m late with a goal, I’m going to make no apologies, relax, and enjoy life. If it’s important, it will get done eventually.

2 Comments »

1. 

   I also set lofty plans and sometimes disappoint myself when I don’t live up to them. However, I feel so great when I do meet them!

   Comment by Sa_moran — April 19, 2009 @ 10:14 am

2. 

   Hi, Sue,
   I totally feel the same way. Once I started setting goals that were more realistic (instead of 30 hours’ worth of goals for one or two days), I started having more successes and feeling a lot better. My problem was often that I had set the bar so high that my chance of success was about 10%–and disappointment was inevitable. Finding a happy balance seems to be the key–as in so many things.

   Comment by Kristi Holl — April 20, 2009 @ 1:44 pm

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