Hi!
So, the blog title's probably a bit misleading, and I want to ramble in my usual way about it. Buckle in, folks!
Goals are always important, and I feel like, in general, we're moving into a very goal-oriented lifestyle as individuals in a Pinterest/Instagram/Facebook Update kind of way. I've had Bullet Journals, I've made personal daily goes, I've tried the whole, "Set a one month goal, a one year goal, and a five year goal" thing... and, for the most part, it's worked. It did take me a while to find balance, however, between actively going for those goals and feeling like if I took a moment, or day, or couple days, to set that constant grind aside and just breathe, I was letting myself down. If I wasn't working, I was wasting time and not living my life the way I "should" be.
Especially recently. If you've been following my sporadic blog updates, things really got going for me lately as far as a writing career, and I was (and still am!) SO excited about it! And suddenly there were very helpful suggestions from lovely, incredibly helpful people as to how I should be focusing my drive, and what steps could be taken next, in order to keep the momentum going. And that's never a bad thing! I still have a list on my phone, and I'm going to be making a list in bigger font to keep by my desk/workspace as a reminder.
Knowing yourself is a big part of this, because I definitely started getting carried away. I was doing good work - I've finished a script to a new spec TV pilot and I've sent it off into the world, I've been able to support a friend gearing up for an album release, and another with his book release! But when I get a list, I tend to get very... well...Monica about things. All or nothing!!
(The hair isn't far off the mark in humidity, either....)
It was ON. I had opportunities I didn't want to waste, and so I started planning. I was going to do ALL THE THINGS and, if possible, I wanted to do them as close to all at once as possible. I was telling people my plans, gearing up for trips, looking at my savings, making calculations...everything.
And then I got sick. Nothing serious! It was a cold that developed into acute laryngitis because, well, during the day I'm an office manager and answering the phone/talking to everyone in the office is sort of my thing. And I didn't listen to coworkers telling me to go home and rest, because I didn't feel that bad, it was just a sore throat. And then my voice cut out on Friday.
And then I spent the entire weekend in silence, because when I did talk, I sounded like a Disney Princess losing her voice.
It gave me some time to think. I'm not going to abandon my list of Things To Do, but I also had the opportunity to sit back and realize that if I rushed a couple of my goals, it was going to be worse than not doing them at all.
I live in Canada, and my goal is to work in L.A. Whether or not I live there full-time, whether it's for one season or some editing or being in the room getting coffee and taking notes....my goal is L.A. I was ready to rush over and do what I could to stuff my visit full of meetings - and I'm still going to do that. But I sat back and looked at what I had prepared and realized that, while I could go and pitch and meet people just fine, I wanted to go in prepared.
Some people think that's me backing down, chickening out about taking a leap, and maybe they're right. But when I take a leap of faith, I like to at least sort of know how far the distance is for me to leap - and maybe, getting a bit more prepared before rushing off to the States is a good thing for me to do. And technically, I'll be rushing down to the States to see Sara Bareilles in concert (SO EXCITED).
My friend and I are still keeping up bi-weekly meetings to spur each other on, and once I can talk again, we're definitely going to start up again (keeping her away from any voice-related illnesses is sort of key right now, as she's the one releasing the album... kiiiinda need to sing for that!) and I'm going to move closer to my goals. Maybe I'm not rushing around and running full-tilt towards them like I thought I "should" because that's what so many success stories seem to entail, but....
Well, it's taken a while, but I know myself, too. I know the industry I'm in deals with a lot of uncertainty and no small amount of risk-taking, but I'm still getting there. I know what I need in order to be successful, and I'm going to make sure I go after my goals when I can go after them 100%. In the immortal words of Ron Swanson...
By the powers of Monica and Ron together, I'll get the hang of this thing. Until then, I'm going to keep pursuing my goals when the time is right to pursue them.
Talk to you soon!