Sorry, everyone. I dropped the ball on today’s finance-focused article.
I have just returned home from a few days away on a countryside retreat with my partner. We had a wonderful time but it didn’t go quite as planned.
I was planning to spend some time writing, but that didn’t happen. Instead, we ended up relaxing and exploring the area around our accommodation.
As a result, I don’t have a finance article queued for today.
While I’m a little disheartened that I didn’t end up writing, I don’t regret how I spent the holiday. We had a wonderful time and it was a well-earned break for my partner. Not so much for me – I’ve only just gone back to work!
Instead of writing more on my personal philosophy, I’ll instead leave a few notes on changing circumstances, discipline, and working towards your goals.
Things Happen
Your life will have all sorts of events happen, both good and bad. Things will happen to you that you don’t expect. And you don’t control those events at all.
You do control how you respond to them, though.
Whether it’s getting stuck in traffic or getting an unexpected expense, no amount of raging, complaining or abusing others will change your circumstances. Circumstances arising from positive events – like me not making time to write while on holiday – can be responded to in similar ways too.
But your reaction doesn’t change anything.
The only thing that will change your circumstances are the actions you take to improve your circumstances.
My options were to either write something and publish today, or not post. I found some time while travelling back home to write the majority of this article and made the most of what I had.
I made do and did the best I could with the time I had.
Understand Your Non-Negotiables
I post articles every Tuesday and Friday.
I’ve traditionally posted personal and lifestyle-focused articles on Tuesdays, and financial & philosophical articles on Fridays.
Posting an article today is non-negotiable. But the subject matter is entirely up to me.
There are times when the work needs to be done. But if you can control the work you do, you make the rules.
Even if I’m not posting the article I intended to today, I wanted to post something.
It is freeing to know that I am in full control of this website. Even when things don’t go as planned, I can still do something and get something posted.
I could have decided to write nothing as I couldn’t post the article I had planned. Instead, I decided to write something that I can post today instead of ignoring my posting schedule.
I didn’t want to let that schedule slip, and I’m holding myself accountable to achieving it.
My focus became navigating that challenge, and my plan to post today is in spite of that setback of not writing while away.
Accept When You Need To Rest
Everyone needs to rest at times.
You can’t complete your goals if you’re burnt out or don’t look after yourself.
And despite how much writing I thought I was going to do on this trip, it didn’t happen.
Turns out I needed a bit of a break too!
It was wonderful to spend time away from the screen and focus on resting and exploring outdoors. We were even joined by some of the local wildlife who had the same idea:
It was difficult to get to work when I was in relax mode. So I made it a goal to get back to work strong when the relaxation period was over.
Move Towards Your Goals
The goal I’m working towards is maintaining consistency by writing and publishing content twice a week.
In order to do that, I need to dedicate time to writing to make that happen.
This doesn’t mean I’m willing to post nonsense just to get over the line. I strive for my writing to be useful and meaningful to others.
This week has shown that not having time dedicated to writing has meant that my content schedule has slipped from what I wanted.
Chances are you’re working towards a goal in your own life.
If life throws you a curve ball, try to find a way to make progress on your goals. Even if it’s not in the way you wanted.
Small steps forward every day will bring you closer to your goal.
For me, this means dedicating time each day to write so that I publish what I intend to publish.
This definitely slipped during my trip. Writing was at one point a daily ritual for me,
Closing
This is a shorter piece and definitely not what I had planned for today. But I still believe this is worthy of being featured on my site.
We all have things we are working on. And there will always be things that happen or get in the way. And that’s ok!
Here are my thoughts on goals, changing circumstances, and rest:
- You control how you react to circumstances outside of your control.
- Do what you can to meet your non-negotiable goals – even if it’s not what you expected to do.
- Acknowledge when you need rest – even if it means delaying or compromising your goals.
- Take action each day so that you are constantly progress on your goals – unless you are intentionally resting.
Thank you for reading. If you’d like to read more, check out previous posts on the blog, and follow me on X @ScottOnFire.