When we’re working towards our goals, we often forget to stop and consider how far we’ve come. To give ourselves a hug for the progress we’ve made. To honor the sense of achievement we should feel along the way.

This is very important to keep us motivated when the initial rush of our creative idea has worn off and we find ourselves in the shadow “between the idea and the reality” (T.S. Eliot).

Therefore, if we celebrate the small wins along the way, we’re less likely to give up on our goals when the shadows are long, dark and challenging.

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This is especially true for those of us who are intentional about our goals and write out plans to work on them. Because, if we don’t finish our daily, weekly, and monthly to-do lists, we can be extremely hard on ourselves and feel like a failure.

You can only feel like a failure so many times before you give up.

Therefore, to make sure we stay the course, we need to face the truth. We ARE accomplishing things every day. In a big way!

So why does it feel like we’re not?

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FOR ME, IT WORKS LIKE THIS:

+  Get inspired by an idea

+  Write out my goals

+  Develop my action plan (priorities, to-do’s and deadlines)

+  Begin my action plan

+  Start to learn a lot of new and exciting stuff

+  My original idea begins to shift (based on the ‘new & exciting stuff’)

+  Revise goals and action plan

I am learning to trust that this is a normal part of the creative process. But frankly, I don’t like it. It can be hard to remember this is normal when I don’t feel like I’m ‘finishing’ a darn thing.

Here’s a great example of why I should honor my most recent goals even though they didn’t turn out exactly how I intended.

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When I first set out to develop a website, I had every intention of focusing on my art and my creative process. To name the website KarenKohn.com and regularly highlight the inspiration behind my art. Those were my goals. However, once I started working on it, I came across some new ideas that caused me to take a second look at what I really wanted to do.

Most of all, I came to realize that creating a website that serves others would ultimately be more rewarding for me (thus Determined to Love Mondays).

Should I be disappointed that I did not finish my original goals? Do I need to wait to celebrate my success because I didn’t do what I originally planned? Of course not. Discovering something new about myself was a huge success and should be celebrated.

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Here’s the kicker, the big reveal.  If I didn’t have those original goals, I wouldn’t have found something I’m even more passionate about. It took the original idea to get me to where I am now. Ta Da. Can you now see the Pearly Gates slowly opening and the wonderful light shining through? I can.

SO, LET’S DO IT!

LET’S HONOR OURSELVES TODAY EVEN BEFORE REACHING OUR GOALS.

I’LL START…

In celebration of my progress……

+ I honor that I’m learning to live with a growth mindset. A fixed mindset would not have allowed me to be flexible enough to shift directions.

+ I commend myself for setting weekly creative priorities and doing my best to carry them out.

+ I’m clicking my heels for not being so hard on myself (most of the time *wink*) when I don’t accomplish all the tasks on my list. Sometimes things take longer than expected. Ok, I’ll accept that.

+ I’m whooping it up that I could get a website up and running with very little website development skills. Big wrap-around hug for me!