Eventually, I Won’t

Another week, another 7 day challenge failed.

My challenges for this week were to:

• Post all 5 videos from the first week (with thumbnails)

• Finish posting stuff to Facebook Marketplace

• Read Harry Potter in Japanese

• Listen to each chapter of Harry Potter in Japanese

While I made progress on each—more than I might have otherwise, I am left with each unaccomplished and have nobody to blame but myself.

Two weeks of challenges and two weeks of failure may seem like I am setting goals that are far too lofty for me to accomplish but that’s not the case. 

It is, however, frustrating. The goals are meant to push me, but I still get in my own way. At this rate, my goals feel closer but just out of my grasp. Like I will achieve them—eventually.

There are two things getting in the way. 

The first, remembering the challenges. After I write the challenges, I can’t always easily recall them. It may be my football days coming back to haunt me or just my poor memory to blame. 

To overcome this, I need a constant reminder of what I am supposed to do for the day. 

The second challenge is the big one. The one I have struggled with for a long time. Much longer than these challenges have been a thought in my mind. Good ol’ procrastination. 

It’s easy to say that I need sleep. Easy to say that I have plenty of days left in a 7 day challenge. So maybe 7 day challenges aren’t the answer. 

I thought 7 days was short enough but I need more pressure to perform. 

You would think the finite nature of our lives would create enough pressure to make the most of every day but it somehow isn’t pressing enough to make the most of every moment. 

So maybe I need to shorten the window to completion—to increase the pressure to the point where it is impossible to ignore. 

Maybe, I need to do the work instead of saying that I have enough time to do it. 

Eventually, I won’t.