never give up – The Corrigan Encore

It is November aka Native American History month, the start of the holiday season in North America, and (drumroll) the National Write a Novel in a Month month. I am participating in this National month and I am way behind. The average novel is 50000 words long and that’s the goal for the writers. It averages about 2000 words a day and I am off by about 10000 words. Today I plan on doing some serious writing and here is to hoping that I will get back on track today or tomorrow.

It is easy to get behind a lead goal. A lead goal tells you that you are on track to meet a future goal. A lead goal for me in writing a novel is 2000 words a day, if I were losing weight with a goal of 25 lbs in 3 months a lead goal maybe a three mile jog five times a week.

Understanding leading and lag goals is important because life is full of them. Most of us work towards the the goal of retiring. To retire we need savings. and there is a rate at which we should be accumulating these savings.

What can we do if we are off track of our lead goals? First look at lag goals. A lag goal is a goal you have already accomplished. You have saved enough money to buy a car and or a house. How did you save that much money? You have lost weight in the past what exercise and diets worked. If you have done this before you can do this again. Second thing and it’s more important than the first when you are missing lead targets or goals is to just keep swimming.

Just keep swimming was the mantra spoke by the protagonist in a Disney movie called Finding Nemo. Two fish set out on a task that took them across the Pacific ocean. The task was to find one of the two protagonists son named Nemo. One of the two fish was discouraged and wanted to quit but the other fish encouraged the fish with the mantra of Just keep swimming.

You can still accomplish you overall goal even if you are behind on leading goals, targets and or indicators (the terms are all used interchangeably). There will be days this month when I type 5,000 or 10000 words then there will be days when I type 500 words I am thinking days like thanksgiving. However in the end if I just keep swimming I can make it and no matter what you are trying to accomplish you can make it too. Just keep swimming!

Life is sort of like a game but it is a game without an end or a winner or loser. Life is an infinite game. It can be tempting to see someone who makes a living working at their passion and proclaim that they are a winner at life however we should avoid this temptation. The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. I host a weekly podcast (sort of I try to do 1 podcast a week but sometimes life gets in the way). Two weeks ago I interviewed Joshua Von War Bear. Josh is a creator of swords, leather work and armor. Josh has acted modeled and participated in many renaissance fairs and cos play events. I am envious of Josh he gets paid to play and make imagination a reality. Josh mentioned in our interview that he loves what he is doing but sometimes he thinks insurance would be nice. I to love what I am doing for a living however I am not making a living with my passion. I engage in my passion projects in my “free time” as do most of us. Because my passion projects are part of my free time and hobbies I can take as long as I want building creating and learning. Josh has deadlines and he cannot take as long as he wants with his passion if he does not sell he does not eat, it is a harsh equation for many working in their passions.

Last week I interviewed Sasha McBrayer. Sasha is passionate about art, graphic design, pop culture and writing. Currently Sasha works in an office and pursues her passions in her free time however some new developments may make it possible to pursue her passions full time (I do not want to give much away). As humans we love to play games and the games should have a beginning, an end, a winner and a loser but life is not that way. In life we only have one of those things and that is a beginning. Don’t put to much pressure on your self and life. You may not be where you want to be now but enjoy life wherever you are and what ever you are doing and know that tomorrow everything will change.

For some encourage remember that this list of authors did not publish their first works until well after age 40 one was 66 when their first book was published

1.Toni Morrison

Age: 40

2. Mark Twain

Age: 41

3. Marcel Proust

Age: 43

4. Henry Miller

Age: 44

5. J.R.R. Tolkien

Age: 45

6. Raymond Chandler

Age: 51

7. Richard Adams

Age: 52

8. Annie Proulx

Age: 57

9. Laura Ingalls Wilder

Age: 65

10. Frank McCourt

Age: 66

Be kind to yourself and never give up on your passions.

Tag: never give up

Just keep swimming

NO Time line