I’ve talked before about setting magickal/spiritual goals for the new year, but I’ve never really talked about how to handle things when they go bad. Like – really bad.
Like, let’s pretend you said you would read all the occult books on your shelves at 2 books a month, and here it is, month three, and you’ve only read two chapters in a single book. What do you do? Beat yourself up mercilessly? Drop the goal completely? Or just shrug and say, “You know what? Tomorrow is another day.” and keep working at it until it finally becomes a priority? Or do you continue to take baby-steps toward the goal?
I like to point out to people that goals are just like lifestyle changes. They take some work. You have to have the mindset that you actually want to accomplish a thing, and if you actually want it — you will make time for it. Just like magick – intent is everything.
I did that this year. I decided to do a tarot journal for 2022! Pull cards every day, reflect on them during my nightly meditation.
So far, I’ve only pulled 5 of 7 days (actually 6, but I totally forgot to write January 3rd’s cards down – completely spaced yesterdays). By some accounts, people would say I’ve failed. But have I really?
6 out of 7 days isn’t bad (even if I did forget to record one), and I can still reflect on the previous week. Right?
So — your two chapters in 3 months isn’t 2 books every month, but it’s something, and you can build on that. Maybe find out where, in your schedule, you can find more time to read (or whatever it is for you). In my case, I need to come up with a routine that works for my tarot journaling. My 2022 is all about building routines that work better for me.
So instead of giving up, celebrate the small wins toward your goals, even if they’re tiny. And if you haven’t made any progress at all, forgive yourself and do one thing TODAY toward your goal, no matter how small. It all eventually adds up. To spring a writer-analogy on you all, 500 words a day for 100 days equals a 50,000 word novel. It adds up.