Analysis and Why It Is Important to Me

The history

Nineteen days ago, I wrote 99 Coins to Get to My Goal and a Bottle of Beer . (Click link to read.)

My coin total was 12,675, as I was anticipating reaching the coins needed to make my first payout . As I write this, 19 days later, I am currently sitting at 14,904, an increase of 2229 coins, averaging more than 117 a day since July 20th.

On June 26th, I started out with a crazy notion that I might be able to earn 100 coins per day. (Read: One Hundred a Day? Are You Crazy? ) I wrote:

"I have found that if I set my goals a bit higher than what I need, I work a bit harder. I can also become more stressed out, so I will do my best to simply stay on target, and do what I feel I can do, knowing that I have no control over anything outside of my jurisdiction. With that in mind, I would like to strive for 100 coins per day until my birthday in August."

Five days later, in the July 1st article, Final Results: 4 1/2 Day Challenge Ending June 30th , I decided to announce a "stretch goal." Not only would I reach my payout goal by my birthday, I would stretch to reach 15,000 Coins in my bank by 11:59 p.m. on August 10th.

The plan and results of past 38 days

• Write daily (with a 5 per day goal)
• Comment/interact with others on their writing
• Stay focused and not stress out

In July, I did write every day, totaling 94 submissions (3.03 daily average). In the first week of August, I also wrote daily, totaling 23 (3.29 avg.); 117 total (3.08 avg.)

I spent many hours reading and commenting, and I have stay focused on this goal. The stressing out has been kept to a minimum, though I have spent some stressful days working at this.

Where I stand with 3 days to goal

With this update, it is my third submission of the day; 120th of the goal period. I have reached 14,916 coins, with under 63 hours to goal.

If I work a bit today, it is likely that I can earn the remaining 84 coins needed to reach the 15K goal, before midnight tonight. This will leave me two days to relax without being in goal-centered mode.

Why this was important to me

I understand that this kind of goal-setting, and my constant analyses of the goal, is not something that works for everyone. Nor is it something that many find interesting, because it does not reap the reward of money that would warrant the time spent to do it. Truthfully, I have worked on average of 3 to 5 hours a day to reach a goal that has produced pennies.

What this has provided for me is focus on something that is tangible (enough) to be able to assess that, if when I put my mind toward accomplishing something, I am able to do what is necessary to get it done. It is not always perfect; I do not always succeed at what I would like to accomplish (i.e. average 5 articles a day).

This is much more than coins at Persona Paper. This is life.

What it takes for me to succeed is CONSISTENCY. I must also be able to STRETCH. It is what keeps me moving forward. And, I am ever-reminded that no matter how bleak things may seem momentarily, I have the wherewithal to dig deep, and push past what may feel like a mountain.

It is also my hope that, by sharing my journey through life in whatever I am doing, others might look at my crazy, sometimes obsessive, methods and processes, and find some ideas that they can use to develop their own plans to achieve whatever it is in life they want to accomplish.

More so, I want others to realize that whatever gets thrown in our laps, we CAN keep moving forward. It may seem awkward, impossible, and ugly, at times, but as long as we do not look back, we are LIVING LIFE in a way that gives us hope for the future.

And NOW...

I have 84 coins to earn, and I want to do it before midnight, so I have under 15 hours to "git 'er done." I would like to enjoy my final day tomorrow of being 59, by spending the majority of it off a computer.

Thanks to all of you for the support you each give to me, individually and collectively, which keeps me focused on things that keep me moving in a forward direction. It can be very tempting to give up on so many things, but you let me know that is not an option.

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0930 PDT 14,916 $22.37 112.77 daily avg (since July 1st)

84 coins left to 15K Coin Challenge (click for info)

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© Copyright 2015 - Coral Levang. All Rights Reserved

FOPP | Goals | goalsetting | writing | progress

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