Catching Up

A primary reason we often stop working on goals (personal and professional) is because we fall behind.

That may seem straightforward, but it’s really not. When we fall behind, we get anxious. The work we had to do previously, plus what we were supposed to get done right now, gets intimidating. and then it just keeps getting more and more intimidating as more “past” work piles up.

It gets so intimidating that you just stop doing it, and start focusing somewhere else.

But every goal – no matter how long-term, no matter how complex – can typically be picked right back up where you left it. Just adjust your timeline, and keep going. This applies to projects at work, your weight-loss goals, that marathon you’ve always wanted to run, etc.

Sometimes, getting back on track means throwing away the entire backlog. Have you stopped reading magazines because they’re stacked high on your desk? Intimidated because you haven’t read magazines from three months ago yet? Put them all in the recycle bin, and start reading again with the next issue that comes in the mail.

Same with your blog RSS feeds. If you’ve fallen behind, and see hundreds, maybe thousands, of unread posts, throw them away. Start fresh when the next post is written.

Sure, you’ll likely miss something. But you’re already missing it by not reading, and you’ll just keep missing more if you keep not reading. So why not eliminate the intimidating, stressful stack and start fresh?

Sometimes catching up means just starting where you left off. Catching up can also mean ignoring what you’ve missed, and simply stepping back on the train – right now – and starting anew.

What do you have to lose?