Tag: Failure

Productive Procrastination and My 2018 Goals

I have some fairly intricate (and stressful) health and finance-related decisions to make right now, so I'm doing the mature, responsible thing: procrastinating!

...by putting my 2018 goals on paper/WordPress, so it counts.

Who knows what all I will actually accomplish, but during conversations with the last guy I started seeing, I realized that one of my biggest flaws is that I am afraid to dream big anymore. Frequently because, unfortunately, I am afraid to fail (yes, cultivating more of a growth mindset is something I'm currently working on, too).

I plan to edit this post as I think of more, but here we go for now! In 2018 I aim to:

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No Time To Waste

In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “No Time to Waste.”

“Life is too short to: let fear of failure rob you of life lessons and beautiful memories.”

If there is anything I regret (despite the popular cliche advising against ever regretting a thing), it is the many times I let fear keep me from trying something new. There is plenty of psychological research behind the rationale for this, especially where “gifted girls” are concerned…but no matter how well I have come to understand why I shied away from certain pursuits, I still remain a bit sad that I cared so much about upholding an appearance of seemingly effortless perfection that I sacrificed my own happiness. Looking back on these tendencies from my high school and college days, my 25 year-old self must ask: where is the sense in that? Whether it was letting softball pitches go by rather than possibly swing and miss, turning down choir solos in case I choked at the performance, or neglecting to try out for sports and/or musical honors I easily could have earned, I cannot think of a single time it was truly beneficial to let caution be my life guide.

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Mission: Failure–Challenge Accepted

Nothing Will Ruin Your 20sAs I ponder how to approach the current crossroads in my life, which includes milestones such as completing graduate school, moving back to my home state for the first time since high school (yes, I’m “one of those obnoxious Texans”), and breaking into a new industry, I have begun to focus on what fulfillment means for me personally: What gives meaning to my life? When am I happiest? What do I value most? Which hobbies and lines of work lead to late nights and early mornings, all for the sake of passion about the pursuit? Who do I want to be in five and fifteen years, and how will I want to have made a difference? What do I wish I’d done differently in life thus far, and how will I avoid making similar choices in the future?

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