“Nothing in this world can be said to be certain, except for death and taxes” - Benjamin Franklin.
Not to step on the toes of a brilliant man, but I would argue that failure can also be added to this list. No matter how smart you are, how much talent or hard work or dedication or drive or motivation you have, or how much of your heart and soul you put into something, at some point, you are going to fail. Failure is, without a doubt, my biggest fear. (I also do not enjoy snakes, but that’s a different story). For as long as I can remember, I have been petrified of letting myself or others down. Because of that, I spent most of my life thinking that if a situation didn’t turn out perfectly that it meant I was a failure and that there was nothing redeemable about it. I didn’t run cross-country my freshman year because I was afraid I would be bad at it. When I played soccer, every time I got the ball, I panicked because I was so worried I would make a mistake. Even though I looked forward to being on staff at Gretna Glen for 7 years, I didn’t want to apply at first because I was worried I wouldn’t be a good counselor or staff member. I never auditioned for principal/feature in Dance Theatre - even though I really really really wanted to - because I was too afraid to look dumb for a few moments on stage at the audition. It took until my senior year of high school to start to re-define how I determined “success.” I can’t remember when or where I first heard about setting ABC goals, but they changed my mindset about everything from academics to athletics to my personal life. Essentially, the idea of the ABC goal system is to ensure that you walk away from anything - no matter how it goes - satisfied with some aspect of your performance. A “C” goal is a standard you know that you can achieve no matter what the circumstances are. A “B” goal is one that requires effort and is a stretch, but is definitely still attainable. The “A” goal is one that will happen with hard work, dedication, and a wish or three on a lucky star. To get cheesy, follow the quote Dream (A), Believe (B), Achieve (C). So what do ABC goals actually look like? For next semester, my A goals for myself include getting (literal) As in all of my classes, reading 16 books before the end of the semester, and working out three times a week. My B goals are to get a 3.9 GPA or higher, to read at least three times a week, and to exercise at least twice a week. If none of those happen, I'll go to plan C, which is to get a 3.5 GPA in order to keep my scholarship, read when I can, and to work out when I can. What I love the most about ABC goals is that they give wiggle room for both awesome and awful life circumstances. No matter what happens in my personal life, how difficult my classes are, or how many times I actually make it to the library, I can walk away from my semester feeling good about my efforts and achievements. Whether you're a perfectionist or someone who struggles to set goals because you're afraid you won't achieve them, the ABC system makes sure that you'll never fail (even if you don't 100% succeed).
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LizWriting, running, reading, and keeping it real along the way. Archives
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