Cars X Girl

I’m a crazy-obsessed goal setter. I am a chronic list writer. I am awesome at organizing everything that needs to be done/paid/written/paid attention to, etc.

Doing it….. Um, whole other story. But that’s not my point here. (I swear I’m working on that procrastination thing. I’ll continue. Later.)

But no matter how much planning you do, you won’t always get done what you wanted to. Sometimes the dishes don’t get washed and the lawn doesn’t get mowed today. And sometimes, well, it’s okay. There’s no need to beat yourself up over not having enough hours in a day or motivation to finish huge to-do lists. Life’s a bit long to beat yourself up over the small stuff.

Vindication

So when I saw this article on MSN about downsizing money goals, I found that it applied wonderfully to cars as well. Funny enough, another thing was written not long after by Chris at Art of Nonconformity about the same topic. While the first article is specific, the second really spoke to me and really nailed the point home for me. (That and I *love* Chris’ blog. Such an inspiration.)

Anyhow, it’s really nice to have things like this that says it’s okay to not do what you set out to do. All the time, anyways. If you can’t ever reach a goal you set… Well, there’s something more going on there.

Not all goals are created equal

When it comes to my cars, there are things that are important and there are things that would just be really nice to do. It’s paramount that my important goals are well defined and within reach… Maybe not super easy reach, but not hinging on me winning the lottery lofty either. It’s definitely worth more when I can reach a goal that I had to work towards or wasn’t entirely sure was going to happen.

Then I also have goals secondary to these important ones. These are kinda like “gravy goals,” things I’d love to get done in addition to what I really want to accomplish. Yes, I work towards getting these things done… But they certainly aren’t life or death. Even the important ones aren’t life or death, but there’s more disappointment tied into ones of that caliber left undone.

Key is re-evaluation

Of course, this all depends on if you have goals in the first place. Most people have some idea of what they want to do, get, see or whatever. And when you have a clearer picture of these vague ideas, you can figure out if you’re headed in the right direction or how long it’ll take to get there.

Periodic re-evaluations are necessary to see if a goal will get done on time or not. For some things, there’s only so much you can do. For example — my plans to go to Hot Import Nights. I can take the time off of work, make sure my husband’s clear to go, buy tickets and find a hotel to stay at for the weekend. At first, all I could do is clear the time from work… My husband’s job makes the rest rather difficult, until I get confirmation that we’re all good to go. Then it all (hopefully) falls into place from there.

For others, though, I can see the bank account balances and see how close or how far I am from the next part for my cars. While I love modding them, it’s expensive to do relative to what I make. So each part I want has to be queued in a list and organized from there. I’d love to make leaps and bounds of progress… That rarely happens.

After buying the 240SX this year, I faced a harsh reality: Miata progress was going to be painfully slow as funds were diverted towards a new cause. With the racing we’ve been doing, it’s been hard to accumulate enough for new parts. Eventually, I realized that at my current rate I’d only be able to do one or two more things for the rest of the year. Ouch.

It’s about priorities

Oh yes it is. I think I harp on that a lot, because it’s true. My life, as it is right now, clearly shows my priorities… I think. At least one I’m sure, my cars. The rest could be debated, since school and work eat up a lot of my available time. (Nearly all of it some weeks.)

When I realized I’d have to pick and choose which mods I’d shoot for with the Miata, I managed to narrow it down to two. I decided on the high-flow catalytic converter from Flyin’ Miata and some APR carbon fiber side mirrors. I had a hard time deciding which to get first even, but then the decision was made for me: During our Hallett trip, her cat suffered a bit of damage when the undercarriage met some pavement rather harshly leaving the track. The poor 12-year old cat suffered a bit of a shock from the whole incident, causing it to rattle… Freaking out yours truly at first, since the car seemed to drive fine. She does, and the new catalytic converter was on the list to be bought ASAP.

Don’t fret

If you find out you can’t do it all, don’t fret too much over it. Time is a limited resource, and so is money and motivation. These don’t always work with us, and sometimes it feels like they conspire against us more than anything. It’s times when I feel like I’m getting nowhere fast that I like to take a look at just how far I’ve come already.

So I get out my scrapbook and see what we’ve done. Or I work a bit on my car domain pages. Maybe I’ll do some work on my blog, whether it’s tweaking or writing or networking just to get my mind off of feeling like I’m not getting anything done to focusing on something I can get done fairly easily.

It’s weird to say it like this, but for me, sometimes the best thing to know is just that you aren’t alone. You surely aren’t the first nor the last person to set a goal and to not reach it. The best goals are the dynamic ones, the ones that can change, grow and adapt as circumstances and people change and grow.

Related posts:

1. Side effect: Cars increase confidence.
2. Car "Bucket List"?