Aim, miss, and fail
You failed.
I did.
Hello there. It is Monday. And I failed.
When I started this little “psychological art project” (working label), I committed myself to one post a week. They usually happen on Sunday, not only because I have often time on a Sunday but also because of a certain “deadline” feeling before diving into the next work week.
And now it's Monday.
And now it's Monday.
There is like a big ball of... annoyance in my stomach. I'm annoyed at myself, rather than disappointed.
Ok, so ONE of us is not disappointed then.
George seems to be annoyed AND disappointed, good to know. Myself, I would call it a microdisappointment. Like microaggressions, it is subtle. Barely there. Unimportant, by itself. But chain them together, you get a huge effect. You get the annoyance.
In the end, how bad is it? “Doctor, you can tell me the truth. I'm a grownup!” Diagnosis: Annoyance.
You set yourself a goal and you missed it. That is a fail. And even if from now on you write twice a week... “once every week” was missed.
Yes, I remember logic class: “Always” is negated by a single “not this time”.
So, what now?
Shall I sit here and sulk?
Stop the project altogether?
Sit on a chair facing the wall to “think about what I did”?
You mean what you failed to do?
You always claim to act like a grownup. Then do. Accept that you failed the goal. A grownup wouldn't have!
Oh George. Now it's you who failed: you failed your point.
Grownups miss their goals all the time!
They aren't called deadlines because you get a heart attack the moment you miss them. You live on, fix what needs fixing (and leave what doesn't).
Nobody can leave this world with a perfect score. And even if, there wouldn't be a price for it.
I am not sure that is the lesson you should be aiming for... that missing your goals is alright.
My lesson is that (a) life goes on and (b) sulking doesn't serve ANY purpose. Imagine me sulking forever now. Imagine every project manager out there crying their eyes out for the rest of their days when a single milestone is missed. Imagine the project being stopped then. What comes next?
They would... pledge to try harder next time?
And start the “failed” project over?
George, I'm done. Sulking. I had an honest conversation with the shareholder who set the goal: myself. And that included you, so we're done with it.
Are you at least still annoyed?
Not really. I channelled my annoyance into a post about it.
And not a day too late.
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