I woke up this
morning and realized that I had not finished the book I intended to write about
for today’s blog post. This has been
happening more often. My first reaction
is that I don’t like it.
From there, I can
go lots of different ways. One way is
analysis. Why don’t I like the
trend? Well, it makes me feel like I am
failing, like I’m probably lazy. I feel
like the Great Gradebook in the Sky has written me down a slacker. There probably isn’t a Great Gradebook in the
Sky, so perhaps I should relax.
Then I can
analyze why I’m not finishing the books.
Only one small part of the issue is anything kind of like slacking. I do, in fact, have a lot to do other than
read. The books I have been reading
lately are more challenging and often longer than those I’ve read in the
past. Some things that are worth doing
take longer.
Practically, I
have to decide. I still think that
reading and writing about it is a valid exercise for this blog. My work is about mind and body, so if all I
write about is body, I’m cheating. Which
means that on weeks when I don’t finish the book in time, I’ll write some other
mind thing for Friday.
Another way to
state the problem, which makes the fitness application clearer, is: I have a goal that is aggressive. Aggressive goals with deadlines are useful
for motivation, but sometimes the deadlines need to be adjusted when it turns
out that the worthwhile end is going to take longer than expected, no matter
how hard I am working. Working hard is
important; reading is important; goals are important; the most important parts,
however, are not quitting and staying positive.