Tag: nursing school

Productive Writing Days: I Finished My Goals, Now What?

My goals for November of 2014. That would have been almost 3 whole novels in one month, during nursing school finals and internship. That was too many goals for such a short time.

Sometimes we finish things ahead of schedule. We reach goals that we thought would take us longer than they did, or we give ourselves a long while until the deadline just in case life gets in the way. Sometimes we need all that time, but sometimes we don’t.

Yesterday, technically today, a little after midnight, I finished my second chapter for the month of February and I wrote the short story for February in about 2 hours. Yesterday was a very productive writing day, and that’s a good thing. What’s not so good about that is that I completed my writing goals for the month in just two weeks. I underestimated the time and effort it would take to complete those goals.

Now I have two options. I can relax for the rest of the month, focus on writing essays for my class and studying for my license test, or I can write the next chapters, the ones that were supposed to be for next month, and another short story, and perhaps finish more goals ahead of schedule. This should be an obvious choice, since one of my goals is to write every day, and I think after writing every day for a solid month straight, I would be bored if I just stopped.

I am going to continue to write, both chapters and short stories, and maybe finish some of my long term goals ahead of schedule. Instead of waiting for two weeks to continue and halting my momentum, I am going to continue the momentum and continue the inspiration. I am going to put my time to good use and finish something instead of waiting until the last minute like I’ve had to do for so long.

It looks like it’s going to be a great writing year. And that is a welcome relief after the writing years I had the last two years. With Nursing School and all of the intense focus and other priorities, I kept having to set back my writing goals and write when everything else was completed first. Now that I have more free time, and just one online class this semester, I have more time to seriously pursue my goals while I wait for the next stage of my life to begin.

Deadlines can change and that is acceptable. Sometimes we have to push them back month after month after month, and sometimes we finish them way ahead of time. Either way, keep at them. If they are important, they will find a way to be completed. Sometimes it’s in one sitting and sometimes it’s in five minute segments over two or three years. As long as the goal doesn’t change, the deadline can be flexible.

I did graduate nursing school in December 2014, despite my lofty goals in November.

So whether you are ahead of schedule, or behind, keep at it. Something beautiful can come of it if you continue. Enjoy the journey, and what it has to teach you.

How do you set deadlines for yourself?

The Importance of Goals

Without something to strive for, to work towards, we are stagnant. No matter what your preferred calling is, whether it be your occupation, your hobby, or maybe even a little of both, goals are necessary.

For several years, I have had goals, both writing goals, and goals in other areas of life. I’ve had both long and short term goals, which in some cases can be interchangable.  Sometimes, short term goals can morph into long term, or vice versa. If a long term goal feels unattainable,  break it into smaller short term goals. For example: If the goal is a burst of confidence by the end of the year it’s not something to start the first day of December. Some goals take time, and that’s not a bad thing.

Sometimes we’re not ready for our goals, we’re scared, or shy, or we don’t have the means to complete them just yet,  or the time and patience. That is perfectly fine, sometimes we have to fail a few times before we succeed. That’s part of learning and the human experience.

If we all succeeded the first time we tried something, we would never learn anything. We would not grow, or advance as a society. Failing is perfectly acceptable, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Of course, we never really want to fail, but sometimes it is inevitable. That’s why I am going to share some of my goals, both that I succeeded and failed in.

Let’s start with 2009. I was in my first year of college, trying to get through Anatomy, Psychology and College algebra. That was the first year I found out about NaNoWriMo (nanowrimo.org), which takes place in November. You know what else takes place in November? Finals. I had to make a choice between preparing for finals and writing 50,000 words, or fail both. I chose finals, and I succeeded in furthering my progress in my long term goal of nursing. Did that stop me from doing NaNoWriMo the next year?  No way!

In 2010, I got into the CNA program and succeeded.

Then I had to wait three years for my acceptance into the LVN program. Three years is a long time to wait for your goal, and for a while, I lost track of my goals. I like to call those years my “dark ages” and for good reason.

2011- I was dating a guy for most of 2011 (let’s call him Poland). Thing went well for a while, and them my feelings for him died when I met another guy who I deemed more my type (let’s call him Hilter… It’s going to be a complex metaphor). Because of the conflict the rest of my 2011 sucked and I nearly failed classes I needed for nursing school because of it. I was writing a novel at the time and I nearly didn’t finish that either.

2012- Hitler didn’t work out, so I dated Himmler for a month,  and that was like being stuck in a work camp, and after him Goebels, which was one of the worst mistakes of my life. I dropped more classes that I needed (and that counted against me later), I screwed up my sleep schedule, and I nearly jeopardized my chances of getting into the nursing program at all. I was aimless, I had forgotten my long term goals. Even my short term goals and my writing suffered.

And then 2013 came,  I got into the LVN program, and I succeeded. Sure, there were pitfalls In that year too, but there were also triumphs. I made it through all three semesters,  I wrote, I reached some short and some long term goals. I learned about myself and I was able to succeed once I put my mind to it.

2014 was even better. I worked my ass off through the RN year, I met the best man I have ever been with, who I love more than I ever thought imaginable, and I wrote ten (10!) short stories, finished a full length novel and faced my fears and submitted something to a writing contest. I could not have done any of that if I hadn’t struggled through those “dark ages”.

Goals, whether we succeed or fail, teach us something about ourselves and others.

What goals do you have?