Help, I've fallen and I can't get up

I fell off the wagon, big-time, this week.

With the exception of a day here and there, I'd been writing pretty much daily since Jan. 1, as I swore I would. I swore it to myself, though I said it aloud, so I'd keep myself honest. I was doing this for me, really - I feel better when I'm writing regularly.

I've written just 14 times (this is No. 15) this month. It's the 27th day. In any other year, I'd be happy with that figure. I've been horrible about writing even weekly in the past. I succeeded the most when I was writing regularly for Inc., and had a number of columns I'd agreed to write each week. Even then, I didn't always meet my personal goal. But at least I was writing weekly.

Here, I see I haven't written in four days. That sucks.

I knew that if I missed one day, I'd find it easier to miss more days. That's what's been happening. The more days I miss, the less pressure there is to keep writing. In fact, the more days I miss, the harder it is to keep writing - if I come back, it's an admission of failure.

I've always been horrible at keeping to personal goals. Not sure why. There's always something else to do. I get caught up and do whatever else there is that seems interesting. Then two days go by. Then a third. A fourth. And on.

So I redouble my resolve to write, if not every day, more often than I have been this month. I knew this year was gonna be hard, but I'm still up for the challenge.

Image by Bob Cotter via Flickr Creative Commons.