Reaching your goals

I am in a difficult position at the moment - in four weeks' time I will be made redundant for the third time in three years. I work in a sector (HE) in which jobs are often dependent on transient funding. It's dispiriting to be in this position again. I find it very stressful. It seems I just get into a job and start doing some good, and it's over.

I don't have a HUGE goal in life - I just want my family to be happy, and to do some good in society, preferably by using my particular skills to help others learn. I don't want to rock the world...

I guess that if you have something to aim for sometimes it takes a LONG time to reach it. But a big goal perhaps keeps you more on track while you're waiting.

I was reading recently about teacher-turned-astronaut Barbara Morgan, who was 55 when she finally made it into space on the August space shuttle mission. She's been waiting over 21 years for her goal of getting into space... She had trained as a back-up to fellow teacher Christa McAuliffe for the 1986 Challenger shuttle mission. But on January 28, 1986, Challenger exploded 73 seconds after blast-off, killing all seven aboard, including McAuliffe, and delaying for two decades Morgan's own aspirations to carry out a mission with the elite astronaut corps. She had to become a fully fledged astronaut when NASA banned civilians from its flights, and had yet another setback after the Columbia disaster in 2003: she was due to fly on its next mission. How wonderful must it have been, at the age of 55, that she finally achieved her dream!

In February 1990 Nelson Mandela was freed after spending 27 years in prison. He shared the Nobel Peace Prize with FW de Klerk in 1993 for their efforts to transform South African society. In the first multi-racial elections in the country's history he was elected president and his party the ANC won 252 of the 400 seats in the national assembly.

Writer John Creasey faced up to 743 rejection slips before he was first published. Now over sixty million of his crime novels have been published.

There are more interesting tales of early rejection and later success at the Handling Rejection website.

So I shouldn't give up, I guess? If only I knew what my big goal was, I'd have something to hold onto!

Now - what are YOUR goals? What's the big thing you'd like to achieve? Make it into a plaque and put it above your computer to remind you. OK I'm getting a bit Ali Edwards here - but giving meaning to your life can transform it in many ways. I know I'm just floundering at the moment - with a bit of focus I will get so much more done - I just need to find that focus!

Some goals:

For my family to be happy
to be healthy and fit
to be calm
to have a worthwhile job
to help people
to make more friends

Go scrap!

I have a day off today. Sort of. I work 4 days a week and fit some freelance and voluntary work into the other day plus spare time. I was overwhelmed so I thought that I would have an extra day off work this week to concentrate on some of my other projects. But it's nearly 11 am and all I've managed to do is have a bath...

So - I ask myself the question:

"What can you do today
that at the end of the day
will allow you to sit back and say
'today was a really successful day'."

Most of my projects need loads of work doing on them - none of them are at that point where I can make a big breakthrough and feel that rush of success! I need some "two-minute" jobs that I've been procrastinating about...

• Relaxing is definitely on my list! So that's ticked off {sigh}
• Apply to renew my passport
• Put entries in all of my blogs (but NOT spend time on the forums!)
• Some housework is needed, but to get a success in shortest time... the bathroom...
  

and of course what would give me a big fillip of satisfaction would be to complete a LO, or better still, three LOs. That really would have me saying I've succeeded in something today, as I get so little time to scrap and haven't done any this month {gasp}. So: post at least one on this blog by the end of the day!

I can recommend this question if you're ever at a loose end.

Tell me (via comment!) what would make today (whatever day you read this) a success for you? And then - did you accomplish it?

Challenge - Win, win, win!

Lewis Hamilton - the new prodigy in Formula 1 motor racing, won his first Grand Prix on Sunday in just his 6th race in Formula One.

He had never driven at the Montreal track before the weekend, and he gained pole position and led from the front despite four incidences of the safety car and a dreadful accident from which, thank God, Kubica escaped with only a broken leg.

Hamilton said: “It has been a fantastic day for me and my family - this is history. To come here for my first visit to Canada and to win - it has been just a fantastic feeling ..."

So this week's challenge - what is your greatest achievement? When did you last feel like jumping up and down in the air with delight and joy? (Alternatively - would would you LIKE to achieve - get it down on paper and you have more chance of seeing it happen..)

Please post a comment and link if you make a LO that celebrates your achievement(s).