As we go through life, we often struggle to recognize our progress. That’s especially the case when life feels like a giant treadmill that goes nowhere and accomplishes nothing. Milestones are one way for us to mark our progress, and they’re also great for reminding us to stop and celebrate the little (or sometimes, not so little) things.
Writers might recognize their first finished draft, first query sent, first contest final, first offer of representation, etc. Published authors might recognize their debut release, first royalty check, reaching a bestseller list, etc. Bloggers might recognize their 100th post, anniversary of their blog, 10,000th visitor, etc.
I passed one of those milestones yesterday with my blog. The Write Life recognized my blog in their “The 100 Best Websites for Writers in 2015” post. Yay!
My blog has appeared on various lists before, such as Molly Greene’s “Best Websites for Self-Published Authors,” but this is the first time I’ve been on an “official” list—with a badge and everything. *grin*
So thank you to all of you who make blogging worthwhile. I appreciate the opportunity to support other writers in this journey, and I hope I’ve been helpful along the way.
I apologize that I don’t have a big post today (deadlines have been crushing me, and I’m working on so little sleep that I’m barely coherent), but I wanted to share my thanks and see what milestones matter to you.
We’ve been talking a lot about goals lately, and some of our milestones might be related to our goals. But other milestones we watch for might be out of our control.
In other words, some milestones might not make good goals because we can’t force them to happen, but we still hope they come to pass (and celebrate when they do). Candidates in this category might be things like selling so-and-so number of books or earning such-and-such from our writing.
It’s good to have a mix of milestones that are goals and dreams. The more realistic goals can help us feel like we are accomplishing something, while the milestones that are closer to dreams or “stretch goals” can inspire us to continue and push harder.
If the only milestones we recognize are the practical, under-our-control goals, we might miss the opportunity to dream bigger. On the other hand, if the only milestones we recognize are the wistful, not-in-our-control dreams, we might fail to recognize the progress we are making.
So here’s to the unexpected milestones. May we all encounter a few of these along our journey. *smile*
Do you stop to recognize milestones? What milestones have you passed or are you looking forward to passing? Do you think a mix of goals and dreams is best for our milestone list? Have you checked out any of the “Best of…” or “Top 100…” lists for writers? Did any of your favorites make it onto The Write Life’s list?