I was not expecting to say this, but I failed my September goals. However – they still progressed me forward. There’s a difference between failing because you didn’t take action, and failing because the action you took didn’t work. This month, the action I took didn’t work.

I want to evaluate what went wrong that meant I only completed a sixth of my September goals, and hopefully you can use this to your advantage too.

Here were my goals:

• I will easily do 15 push ups in a row by September 30, 2019.
  Yes, I completed this! I can now do 18 in a row.
  

• I will easily photograph 5 high resolution shoots for my blog posts that I am proud to share by September 30, 2019.
  I did two kind of half-hearted ones. I took action, but I realised the kind of action I took wasn’t right. What I will do next time: Plan dates into my calendar of days I will take photos, and with whom.
  

• I will easily put out one video a week on YouTube (4 videos) by September 30, 2019.
  I actually FILMED three videos. But I only put out one, because I didn’t make it a priority.
  What I will do next time: Schedule the exact DAYS the videos are going to go up on YouTube, and schedule non-negotiable time to work on them into my calendar.
  

• I will easily create a consistent weekly newsletter by September 30, 2019.
  This is a wish right now. I didn’t commit at all. I didn’t even take a STEP towards this. Ouch. It hurts saying that. Again, scheduling issue. What I will do next time: Schedule time into my calendar to work on this.
  

• I will easily read 2 personal development books by September 30, 2019.
  I actually did take action on this one. I’ve been reading the Napoleon Hill classic, Think and Grow Rich. I love reading it, and I did make time. I just way underestimated how much time I would need to dedicate to this. What I will do next time: Make a calculated plan of reading based on my actual reading speed.
  

• I will easily complete my quiz for my website by September 30, 2019.
  I actually decided against doing this one. It doesn’t align with what my plans are for my website. What I will do next time: Set goals that actually make sense to set.

I learned a lot about SMALL goal setting this month, including:

1. Scheduling is not a joke. Do it for even the small things you don’t think you need to do it for.

2. Set actions you actually want to take.

3. Take into account the other things happening in your life. September turned out to be one of my busiest months of the year, and I ended up working 80 hour weeks. I needed to look at my calendar when I set my goals. I will do that for my October goals, for sure (Coming at you tomorrow!)