follow through

I haven’t been keeping up with the Tumblr, or any of my other full-length blogs, but the rest of my intentions with this goal have been fairly easy to uphold.

I think my outlook changed from not wanting to let other people down to not wanting to let myself down. I realized that every time I flaked out on a social event or just a cool solo outing, I was cheating myself out of what could possibly be an interesting & educational experience.

My recent solo vacation to Chicago is proof that when you plan something, carry it out, and keep an open mind, you can make memories & have experiences that will last you a lifetime. I packed more adventure & activity into the 7 days I was there than I have in probably a few months of living in my own city. I wish I could see every day as I did when I was in Chicago – no time to waste! I gained a lot of self-confidence by just going out and doing things without worrying what I was going to wear, how I would be perceived, or who was going to be there to make it worthwhile. I was there, and that’s all that mattered.

I hope to continue working on this goal when it comes to my professional life. Most often, I get a really great burst of motivation, but then it quickly dies out when I get discouraged by time or effort. I also want to get back to updating my blogs as mentioned above.

I’m very proud to say that my follow-through has been very good lately. My tardiness isn’t fully cured, but I’m getting much better at accepting invitations to things and not backing out at the last minute because I was too lazy or uninspired to be social.

I think my problem is that sometimes I fear too much what other people will think of me. Before, if I was running late, I would drag myself even more until I was very late, then I would worry about what people would think of me for being so late, and then I’d just call and say I couldn’t make it.

Now, I try to focus on what people will be saying AFTER I attend an event. I’d rather have them talk about how good it was to see me and have memories to talk about at future gatherings. I like being included. I don’t like being left out. And flaking on people is a good way to get you on the “don’t bother calling” list.

I’m pretty sure I’ve succeeded in reaching my goals on this related to my social life. There are also some other components, like updating blogs that I’ve started and finishing general projects.

So there’s good news and bad news… The gratitude blog is still abandoned, as is my personal LiveJournal. I think I wrote one entry on LJ in the past 6 months, and I feel bad, but not too bad because I know not a lot of people read it to begin with. On the positive side, I have started an inspirational Tumblr that I post in every 2 days. I’ve been doing this, without fail, for almost 2 months. Because of my diligence I’ve been featured in the Tumblettes section and landed on Inspired Magazine’s list of “Top 50 Most Inspirational Tumblelogs” and gained quite a few new followers.

Wow. I meant to update this a lot more often than every 6 months. I guess you could say I’m getting better at my follow-through. More often than not I’ve attended social gatherings to which I was invited and have even successfully planned a few myself. The last time I can honestly remember flaking on anyone was a few weeks ago, when one of my best friends casually invited me out after work and I told him “I’d try to make it” but ended up just staying in for the night because I was “tired” and didn’t want to spend $35 on a cab ride.

So yeah, I’m getting better!

Progress update….

The bad news: Flaked on a friend visiting from out of town. Same night, flaked on a friend’s birthday invitation at a local music lounge. Also same night, texted some friends to see if they wanted to meet up for drinks and then flaked on them too. I totally suck.

The good news: Saw a guy on a bus a couple of weeks ago. I bravely gave him my number. He called about a week later and I asked him out on a date. I didn’t make up any excuses to cancel. I met up with him this week, and we went to a movie. I had fun. No romance, but a nice time overall.

Progress update…

Daily blog has been abandoned. I haven’t posted in it since the day after I started it. I’m not sure how to pick it back up again without going back and filling in all the days I missed. Maybe I’ll just pick it up from today and not look back.

Flaked on a blind date, twice. The first time I used the excuse of not having enough money to go out. The second time I just didn’t respond to his text message. I only feel a little bad, since I didn’t know anything about the guy, and the chances of me ever running into him are so slim.

Yesterday a friend invited me to a party, and I instinctively said I would “try to go”... but I knew in my mind I wasn’t going to try at all. The good news is that I did follow-through on a game night that a few of my friends invited me to yesterday after work. I’d flaked on them once before, but this time I made sure I went, even though I was a little late due to work. It was fun and I was glad I made time to go.

Progress update…

Started a blog with the purpose of listing things that I’m grateful for, which was meant to be posted every day. I’ve already slacked by not posting for two days in a row. My solution is to make it a weekly blog instead of a daily one. This will be a more realistic goal, and I can always edit daily and make public when the week is complete.

I canceled plans with two different friends last night. I said I would try to go, but I stayed home instead, without really trying at all. I’m cutting myself some slack for having walked through rainstorms on the way to & from work. However, I would rather make a habit of being more reliable as a friend, especially to those that I don’t hang out with often.

I tend to start things I can’t finish. Even if I do finish them, they’re often not as well-planned or prepared as I would have liked. Some might call it biting off more than I can chew. I blame it on being a control freak and wanting to do everything myself.

“Promise less. Deliver more.” Or, learn to delegate the things I want done in a way that doesn’t create a burden on others and is even a little fun.