Dreams Versus Goals

It has been three months since I last posted here and I really don’t have much of an excuse. It has been a trying start to 2011 for me and that has seemed to zap my energy for doing anything when I get home from work. When I say trying, it is nothing overly serious but just the usual weekday crap that dulls a person’s usual zest for life. But, I am happy to report that I have come up with a plan and an ultimate goal at the end that will help me to check off a few things from my list in the process. I am really excited because this is probably the first time in my life that I can honestly say that I have a plan for my career (beyond schooling) and am not just relying on fate to push me where it may (I guess you could say that fate has been my career planner up to now.) This is all I should say about this for now, but just know that I am excited because I have a plan of attack to accomplish some of my long-term career goals.

This has got me thinking about so many of the dreams I have had for my life. So rarely for me have these dreams ever turned into goals. I think this happens for a lot of people. For example, we want to write a book so maybe we talk about starting it this weekend coming up but then get busy. Or we actually start and then lose energy or interest after a couple of hours and we have an unwritten masterpiece on our computer until the day comes when the computer crashes along with our dreams of writing a book. What we need to do is map out our route for success. I have done this with my own dreams of having a book published and have set aside time every week to work on my creative writing. I started this back in December and although I have not written every week, I am staying on track pretty loosely and have even entered several of my short stories in writing contests (no news back on any success but I am always hopeful.

From now on, I want to be a person striving to achieve goals, not just a dreamer (I will always be a dreamer and I don’t think there is anything wrong with this, but honestly I don’t think I can come up with a goal of winning the lottery). When I wrote my bucket list towards the end of last year, I also wrote out what I needed to do to achieve each and every goal on the list. I haven’t actively worked on every thing but I plan on revisiting the list this weekend and coming up with a true plan to achieve everything on there. It is what I have done with my long-term career goals and my writing and what I need to do to accomplish everything on my list. It is time for fate to get out of the driver’s seat and come along for the ride with me at the wheel.

How are your goals coming along? Like me do you need to revisit your map every once in awhile to make sure you are still on the right path?

On a similar side-note, I am within a month of completing #30 on my list, Write a Play. I am excited, and somewhat horrified that I have signed up for the Saskatchewan Playwrights Centre’s 24 Hour Playwriting Competition. Now, I enjoy writing, but I have always hated putting myself out there in front of people when I am doing something that I am unsure of the outcome. By unsure of the outcome, I mean, I don’t know if I am any good at. I know I can put words down on a piece of paper but I am not convinced that the words are really all that interesting.

Anyway, no turning back now and Wednesday I am off to a clinic they are putting on to teach those of us new to the world of playwriting exactly how to go about it. I definitely need this one.

I’ll keep you updated!