I sure didn’t. And it usually ends up that way. Every year I have every intention of doing exactly what I write down as my goals for the year and every November I look back at that list and wonder why I ever made the list in the first place.

That’s not to say that I haven’t done anything this year. In fact, I did LOTS and if I stuck to my list, I wouldn’t have explored the places I did and come to where I am today.

You see, The Alternating Current wasn’t even a thing last year when I was creating my 2011 goals. At least not in it’s current incarnation. I wanted to blog about Scanners/Renaissance Souls but I petered out a few months after starting it (totally OK and totally normal for Creative Explorers…).

If I stuck to my goals, I wouldn’t have strayed far off the path and I probably wouldn’t have come up with the Idea Evaluator Kit or Creative Cartography or the Pathfinder Sessions (coming soon to an inbox near you! ).

So when it comes time to evaluate 2011 and look forward to 2012, I don’t think I’m going to make any goals like I did in previous years.

I’ll make general plans, point my ship in a direction, and see where I want to go next. It’s an experiment.

I’m a Creative Explorer, so I’l explore.

And this year?

I promise not to beat myself up for not meeting those goals I set for myself in November 2010. Instead I will go back over the stuff I have done and write up my reflections, and dream about the things I’d like to explore next year.

I do have a few projects in mind, but with baby on the way, I’m not pushing things.

I’ve made my maps for those projects so I’m ready when I get those few precious minutes.

How about you? Did you get everything done you wanted to this year? Is there one last thing you want to push out there before the year’s over? 

If you start getting panicky and freaked out that we only have 60 days left in 2011, remember 2 things:

1. We still have all of November & December to do a small project (or a BIIIG one like NaNoWriMo)
2. Don’t beat yourself up. Reflect on what you DID do this past year and know that what you’ve done is exactly what you were meant to do.