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Dear friends,
Here we are, in the challenging month of May, when end-of-school-year parent commitments collide with the pre-summer rush at work and the June NIH grant deadline. Fun times! I hope you are setting some boundaries this month. I’m working on it.
Like many of you, I set goals for my work and for other aspects of my life, and I feel disappointed if I don’t meet them. I recently got some helpful perspective from a book called The Gap and the Gain by Benjamin Hardy and Dan Sullivan. (I don’t think it’s a must-read, but if you like the author and/or this type of book, it’s moderately useful.) The authors make two key points related to goal-setting.
First, distinguish between a goal and an ideal. Would the stars have to align for you to achieve your goal? Or is it actually feasible in the real world? I realized that if I wanted to attain my writing goal for each week, every hour I blocked for writing would actually have to be spent writing. Unfortunately, each week, things come up related to study logistics, people management, or my leadership role, and these unplanned issues inevitably take over some of my writing time. When I set my goals, I need to acknowledge that I will only spend half of my planned writing time actually writing. It’s painful to admit that, but it’s less painful than falling short of my writing goals every week.
The next important point, equally hard for me to put into practice, is to focus not on the gap between what I do and what I set out to do, but rather on what I did get done. Last week I wanted to advance two thought-pieces that I am working on, but I only worked on one of them. Instead of telling myself it’s embarrassing to keep one co-author hanging for a month, I could tell myself that I made progress. Both statements feel true, but the idea of making progress is much more motivating.
Neither of these points is rocket science, but I think they bear repeating because it’s hard to put a new way of thinking into practice. I’m going to try adding a “gain” list to my Friday planning- reminding myself as I plan the next week what I got done this week. Let’s see if it sticks!
As always, please share widely and, if you are so inclined, sign up for the blog here. Keep in touch and do share good news so I can amplify your successes!
Warmly,
Urmimala