You’re Gonna Mess Up

Hello New Year.

Hello new goals.

Hello new you!

Despite the ritualist changing of the calendar this month, there’s nothing magical infused into the January air that ensures that every goal you set will come true.

In all reality, not to be a buzzkill, things will not go perfectly and you will mess up.

Totally normal.

What really makes a difference is how you react and what happens next.

Screwing up feels devastating when you’ve attending all the workshops and read all the blueprints about how to have a “perfect year” – which is why the first thing you have to accept is that nothing goes perfectly.

Even when your goal revolves around consistency, days are never perfectly the same.

You are not a failure if you can’t do the same set of tasks day in and day out forever. You’re human.

So when you’ve broken a streak or something came up, the first tool to reach for is empathy.

Having empathy towards yourself is saying that your worth and worthiness is not determined by how well you stick to a meal plan or that you floss twice a day. Give yourself the compassion and understanding that you’d give your best friend who didn’t get to the gym today.

After empathy, give yourself encouragement. One “fail” does not destroy a goal. Skipping a day of anything does not doom to you loserdom. It’s okay to pick right up where you left off and start again tomorrow. Or right now.

You might be overdosing on Instagram mantras and tired quotes written on blurry photos of nature but it’s often the voices in our own heads that we have to battle.

Can you overspend today and stay on budget the rest of the week? Absolutely!

Will you lose your temper with a stubborn child today and find that patience tonight? Maybe!

One bad choice or slip does not doom you so remind yourself that all is not lost.

It might be time to re-evaluate those goals. Especially if your goal has been ignored for weeks or months now.

Sometimes we pick a goal because it sounds like something we should do but there’s just no reason behind it. If you don’t care, stop seeking that goal.

Some people attempt to read 52 books a year. You can join them… or say ‘not for me.’

Others want to improve their guitar skills, sell more online products, see every national park, learn Spanish, learn to code, write cards every day, master French cooking… learn to evaluate if the goals you’ve picked are really serving you. Then…

You can adopt new goals and abandon old ones any day of the year.

It’s true. I checked.

January 1st has passed and there’s no law that says you need to wait another 11 months and 3 weeks to decide what you want.

As you grow and move towards your goals, you’re gonna mess up because life and people aren’t perfect. Embrace the imperfection of it all and keep going.