Catch Up Or Give Up?

The year is 50% over and I've only achieved 25% of my annual goals. Should I try to catch up or just give up on this year's goals?

Disclaimer: I'm writing this for myself. It may or may not help anyone other than me, but it's been one of those years and I've been really challenged to keep my head above water.

There is a season for everything and for everything there is a season. A time for rate increases, and underwriting revisions. A time for record setting hail storms and out of control wildfires. A time to be understaffed and a time to be staff-less. A time too travel to much, play too much and work too little. Whatever the reason - or reasons - sometimes you find yourself in a year where everything that can go wrong or get in your way, does. For me, this has been that year and it's really been weighing on me lately.

If things continue at this pace I'll end the year having accomplished only 50% of my annual goals. I'm at a cross-roads and need to decide what to do with the rest of this year. Should I try to catch up - squeezing in 75% of my production goals into 50% of the year? Should I adjust my goals and lower my expectations for the year? Or should I give up and consider the year a loss? Truth be told, in a year like this I could use a break! I could take it easy for the next six months and coast, re-charging my batteries and getting ready for next year.

The problem with that route is explaining  to my family why we don't have the money for our annual family vacation or half of the other fun stuff we do each year. Don't get me wrong, no one will starve if I don't keep pushing myself, but do I really want to set the example for my kids that when the going gets tough, the tough...take time to coast for awhile?

That means coasting is off the table and I'm left with either adjusting my annual goals to a lower, more reachable, level or going all out and all in and finding new ways to knock it out of the park in the next 6 months. Either way, I'll be better off than if I just quit trying, but I think the right choice can be best expressed by a wise Indian saying I once heard: "better to shoot for the moon and hit an eagle, than shoot for an eagle and hit a rock".

So, it's settled. Now I just need to figure out how to produce 75% of my production goals in half of the year. I'll have some thoughts on how to get that done in my next post. I know it won't be easy, but achieving goals rarely is. I'm used to finishing on top and I know it's still possible even in a year where things are stacked against me. I really do believe you can accomplish everything and anything you put your mind to, now it's just a matter of getting things going again. I'm looking forward to reading this post again at the end of the year and telling myself "I told you so, I knew you could do it." If you're having the same kind of year as me, I know that you can do it too!