We’re almost halfway through the year and as such we’re nearing the halfway point of The 2017 One Story Per Week Writing Challenge. It’s a tough challenge and many of us have slipped behind. There have been whisperings from writers about failing the challenge, about being unable to sustain the pace required to write 52 stories in one year.

But is it really failing if you fall short and write 40, 30 or even 20 stories in the year? Twenty stories in one year doesn’t sound like failure to me, it sounds like a damn fine achievement.

Which brings me to goal setting. See, every year I set myself 3–5 SMART goals, most of which are ambitious but I always believe I have a chance of achieving them (otherwise what’s the point of setting them?). I create goals that will push and challenge me. So much so that if I fail I don’t actually fail. I achieve more than I would have had I not set a goal in the first place. Had I just plodded along.

Comfortably.

Safely.

So, if you’re beating yourself up about not being where you wanted to be in June 2017, look at where you are now compared to the start of the year. And if you’re not very far along at all? No matter. You can’t change your past, but you can act now, and you can shape your future.

Keep on going.

Keep on failing.

Keep on achieving.