What fell through the calendar cracks this year?

We all start January off with high hopes of all the things that will get done and then, inevitably, life happens. I was thinking about this over the weekend when I was considering all my 2016 goals that didn’t come to life.

What happened?

Did I just fail?

How can I stop it from happening next year?

The answer was a little surprising as I reflected on this year. For one, I don’t think any of us expected such a contentious and rough election year for the US. One more week, people, one more week! Most people didn’t anticipate the impact of Brexit, weirdo clowns, the continuing migrant crisis in Europe, tragedies such as the Orlando nightclub shooting, or a major hurricane hitting the US coast.

There have been some other events in my personal life as well, including the deaths of two friends in rapid succession. Maybe you haven’t had a rough year, or the events that made the world news didn’t impact you personally.

Maybe life in 2016 has been pretty awesome with new additions to the family, whether by marriage, birth or adoption. Perhaps you’ve made that big purchase you’ve been anticipating for ages, enjoyed dinners and drinks out with friends, sent the kids off to summer camp, got inspired by the Olympics, or found out some good news.

Still, there are leaking faucets and cars that need repair, sick pets, tickets to be paid, friends who need a shoulder to lean on, events that need last minute planning, kids that bring home every virus imaginable, power outages and out-of-state weddings, vacations that get interrupted, and I’m not even starting on how we emotionally process these ups and downs.

Even the loss of so many beloved celebrities can hit us hard in a year that had so much hope and brought so many struggles.

See… life happens. Things we never anticipated will impact your launch, content strategy, team building, travel plans, and motivation.

So no matter how your goals for 2016 have gone in the past 10 months, know that there’s always another chance and another day to work on them. We don’t throw in the towel because something popped up and our plans had to be adapted. There’s no way to stop the world from throwing things into our path, and it’s no use to wait until things “calm down” because that’s not how life goes!

Instead, make your plans, set those goals and then roll with whatever happens in the months and year ahead. Not reaching all of your 2016 goals doesn’t make you a failure or a loser, it makes you human.