My Failed Dreams Of 2024
2024 is over. Technically, we’ve got another 36 hours in it, but as far as achieving our dreams goes, the game has pretty much been called. There are still a few dreams that may allow us to cross the finish line in the next few hours, but for most of us, it is time to shift our perspective to 2025. But before we look to the future, let’s look at the areas where we didn’t make our dreams come true. I’ll go first.
At the beginning of this year, I set 12 specific goals. I checked off five of them, which is pretty good in my book. I realize I didn’t cross the 50% threshold, but I didn’t have huge expectations that all of these dreams would come true. And ultimately, having five significant dream-come-true moments in a year is a big deal. I don’t want us to lose perspective on what we have achieved. For the other 7, I need to adjust my dream, effort level, or timeline because, in all likelihood, that is what tripped me up the most. So, let’s talk about the dreams that I didn't accomplish:
Book my first paid speaking gig
I got to speak in front of a few crowds and hone my craft a little more, even if the message to those audiences differed from the one I put forth here. But I paid for those opportunities, and maybe you could argue that because I was paid for clients I got from those events, then I achieved this, but that wasn’t the heart of what I was trying to do, and it adds a middle man that was not in the plan. I can tell you exactly why I didn’t achieve this dream, though. I didn’t try to. I didn’t pitch anyone to speak. I didn’t put myself out there. Sometimes, opportunities fall into our laps but hope is not a strategy for achieving a dream.
2. Have a greenhouse
This goal will be easy to accomplish when I start making the income that I hope for next year, but it just wasn’t in the cards this year. This dream just requires me to practice a little more patience.
3. Launch my dream manager program and have my first client
Like my speaking dream, I didn’t do any work on this. As much as I want to design a program that helps spouses, I am pretty lost on the logistics of what that looks like. I never bothered to figure it out outside of a few empty-handed efforts. Trying is the only way to see this come true, and I never really did that.
4. Make $50,000 on my own pen
I thought I had a great shot at achieving this dream, and I did. My work with estate planning gave me a good chance at success. It just had a much bigger learning curve than I expected. I genuinely believe that I will achieve this next year. But by the end of 2024, I was just shy of halfway to my goal. That in itself is a huge victory, and I am proud of the work I did. This was a big dream and to get anywhere close is a win. I will celebrate that and then work hard to get all the way to that finish line next year.
5. Be a guest on a podcast
Just like with my speaking goal, I didn’t even try. I probably could have done it if I attempted to. But there is always next year to put in the effort.
6. Have 1,000 followers on Instagram
I might have achieved this if I hadn’t taken the last three months of the year off. I am a little over halfway to this goal, but the key to growth on social media is consistency, and I shot that in the foot with my extended break. I don’t know that I would have gotten all the way there, but I made it about 60% of the way to my goal. That’s pretty good, and I’ve almost doubled what I started the year with. Still, the only way for me to check this one off the list is to keep up consistent activity, which is what I plan to do going forward.
7. Get a literary agent
Again, I put zero effort into this front. I’m not certain that it is a dream I want to keep in the next year. I think there is a lot of growth that I want to go through before I pitch my book to anyone, but I also know publishing is a huge process, and developing connections now can only aid me down the road. I’ll make the final call on keeping or postponing this dream when I set my 12 goals for 2025.
I don’t know what your list of missed dreams looks like for this year. As you can see, mine are mostly just areas where I failed to put in the work. The good news is that that can be an easy fix. I’ve just got to get my head right and get back to work. You probably have some dreams you are considering shelving for a few years or forever. That’s ok. This is a journey, and we chase the dreams we believe are right. We’ll realize that we aren’t ready for some, and we’ll realize we don’t really want others. Other dreams just need more time. 2025 is an excellent opportunity to start fresh and give those dreams room to grow while working on the ones we can control right now.