Halfway There & Better Than Ever

We are halfway through 2014. Wow.

How did we get here?

The obvious answer, of course, is that the sun set and rose again and again – and that is how we made it to July.

The less obvious answer is that we raced through the days again and again – and that is how we find ourselves surrounded by knee-high corn, the days getting shorter.

What is also getting shorter is the amount of time we have left in 2014 to get it all done, whatever we declared “all” to be on January 1st of this year.

This year, I declared that “all” would be to quit my job and become a full-time freelancer. I also vowed to finish my first novel.

Well, I did quit my job last week – but not to become a freelancer. I’ve accepted a new position with a new company, and I think it is going to be a great opportunity. Starting July 14th, I will be the Social Community Manager for Shopbop, a online retailer of high-end clothing. It’s an Amazon company, a fact that I am beyond excited about, considering how much I love Amazon.

This failure to meet my original goal could result in an inward disappointment that overshadows the blessing of attaining a new position – I’ve let many a missed-mark do that to me before. However, I am taking this opportunity, instead, to reflect on how life doesn’t always work out how you plan – but is sometimes even better.

I actually had a Twitter exchange with Jessica Lawlor about this on July 1st:

(If you don’t follow Jess’s blog, Get Gutsy, go do it now!)

So, what I am focusing on instead is all the aspects of this “failure” that are even better than my original plan.

Even Better

There are several reasons this new opportunity might be an even better option than what I thought was the best-of-the-best six months ago:

1. I have the opportunity to work for a company that has an awesome reputation, and with co-workers that I have a feeling will be great, based on the four that I met when I interviewed.
2. I will be immersed in an industry that always fascinated me, but that I never thought I would work in: fashion (cue every scene of The Devil Wears Prada that you’ve got in you). I’ll be behind the scenes, of course, as the social community manager, but I’ll get to see firsthand how the industry works.
3. My income will remain stable – and I am actually getting a nice raise. This might be the biggest reason that this opportunity is above and beyond what it could have been. Since Scott and I recently sold our house at a bit of a loss, we are now in what I am calling “hunker down and make money” mode to make up for lost time as we save up for our next down payment. Me continuing to have a steady job during this process is going to be very important, especially since we crunched the numbers on building this week and experienced a bit of sticker shock. Ok, a lot of sticker shock.
4. It is very possible that this new gig will teach me new things that I need to learn. I am also optimistic that it will be a creative outlet, rather than a cut-and-paste factory that my current job has turned into the last few months. I’m hoping that having something a little less draining to do during the day will allow me to focus my efforts in the free time on writing that novel, something that I have not touched this year because of the house-selling process. I’m VERY far away from my second goal of the year, but I am not despairing too much.

Going Forward: A Refocusing

So – I’ve not reached either of my goals for the year, not even the half-way points. And I am trying to be okay with that. It’s hard for someone who is pretty Type-A.

Rather than dwell on the misses, what I am going to do is refocus for the second half of the year.

• I need to continue to say “no” to projects that detract from my goals, which are now saving money and writing a novel.
• I need to get better at planning ahead. This includes planning out meals (less eating out = more money saved AND losing the ten pounds I gained this year already) and actively setting aside time to write.
• I might need to take a step back from some commitments that I have made, decisions that are always tough for me to make. I hate quitting anything, especially when other people are depending on me.

Well, I have my work cut out for me. Here’s to finishing the year on an even stronger note!

How has your goal-reaching gone this year? If not well, like me, what are you doing to make it go better?