I know I talk a good game..
I’m here telling you how to do this freelance thing and how to be more confident so you can achieve stuff..
But I have to confess, right here, right now..
*takes deep breath, holds back tears*
I didn’t achieve the goals I set for 2022.
*please don’t leave me..*
Every year around this time I set some goals for the year ahead. Sometimes I even make plans for how to achieve them.
This year my goals were lofty. I had some for work life, some for home life and some for just havin’ fun. T’was a good mix.
But I fucked it. I missed so many goals I’m like *insert rival sports team that suits your biases*
That bloody sport team! *shakes fist at the sky*
So what are the deets behind my sports team paralleling failure?
Here’s what I had on my list..
- Work 4 days a week and no weekends
- Earn double what I earned last year
- Mentor 10 creative freelancers
- Design 3 brands
- Read 12 new books
- Learn German to B2 level
- Play on Ableton once a week
- Go to one exhibition a week
- Work abroad for a month
- Go to three festivals
- Get a bigger flat
Wanna know how they turned out?
- Mostly
- Yes
- No
- Yes
- Nope
- Nope
- Nope
- Nope
- Kinda
- Yes
- Yes
That’s alotta nopes *eek*
So by the measure of what I set last year, I failed..
5.5/11 is not a passing grade.. (though better than I got on some uni exams..)
I better wrap things up and accept my failure fate *double eek*
But wait..
Is there more to this story..?
(there is.. I know because I wrote it..)
So Orwell, I hear you cry, what really happened??
Well, dear reader, those goals I set, in fact, steered me to a many wonderful things..
- I worked very few Fridays and even fewer weekends
- I close to tripled what I earned last year
- I mentored 13 freelancers total, 8 of them were creatives – I got to help more people than planned!
- I designed 3 big brands and 3 wee ones
- I read 8 new books, not bad! And by planning time into my week to read newsletters and blogs I read more this year than I’ve ever readed!
- I stopped my weekly German lessons and kinda stagnated :/ *humpf* but I’ve spoken more German than ever before
- I only used Ableton about five times – pretty bummed about this one tbh
- I went to about 10 exhibitions total – I kinda got bored of exhibitions – I did go to the Venice Biennale though
- I worked abroad for a month but not in the way I’d planned.. it was a few weeks here and there rather than a full month away
- Four festivals and many gigs!
- I got a bigger flat and it came with a wife too 😀
So although it didn’t turn out how I planned, I did more of the stuff I enjoy and more of the work I wanted.
Even when I missed the goal I’ve had a positive experience, learned something or changed my mind. That’s life right?
My measure of a good life is plenty of free time and the money to enjoy it..
By that metric 2022 was one of the best of my life!
You’re never a failure my love, even if you didn’t achieve what you wanted 12 months ago. Shit happens, life is unpredictable, you can plan a pretty picnic but you can’t predict the weather.
And you’re certainly not here to be judged by a younger version of yourself.
So if you’re looking back at your goals for the year feeling it didn’t turn out how you wanted, look closer.. closer.. clooooser.. cloo *boop* oops, take half a step back.. you’ll likely see that along the way great things happened that your goals didn’t even think to expect.
Reflect on the journey, accept where you’re at and let’s get on with planning for next year.
