A Lesson In Failure

ekarakey — Wed, 08 Jan 2020 01:58:31 +0000

At the beginning of 2019 I set an ambitious goal: read 50 books in a year. As someone who wasn’t a very avid reader ‒ I doubt I had even read 50 books for pleasure in my entire life ‒ reading that much tin the next 365 days was a daunting prospect. But, I was confident in my work ethic and my ability to plan, so I made this blog to track my progress and I started reading. If any of you have been following my progress with even the most minimal amount of attention, you might have noticed that I did not achieve my goal. In fact, I failed miserably at it.

Towards the start of the year, my progress was rather strong. But, as I shifted into the gears of the summer with my EY internship and further into the fall with transferring schools, my reading pace and work ethic slowed and slowed to a firm stop. When I look back at my total progress for the year, I can’t help but be disappointed. I have written reflections on a total of 17 books this year, all of which are on my blog. Added to the 7 books that I’ve read that I have not written reflections on, and that brings me to a total of 24 books for the year; a little under half of my original goal; 48% of my original goal to be exact.

I come to the table from the perspective of a student and there is NO class I have taken where a 48% is an acceptable grade. A 48% is a failing grade. I would have most likely dropped out of the course. So as I look forward to the future of the blog in 2020, do I drop it? Retake it? Regret doing it all together? I think this is where the classroom analogy begins to break down. Because although I failed at my original goal, it was quite possibly the most spectacular failure of my entire life.

24 books.

I would never have imagined that I could read 24 books in a year. The only way I was able to do it was in that spectacular failure. I set a goal that was so ambitious, that in the mere striving for it I was able to surpass my expectations. It was in the spectacular failure that I was able to achieve a spectacular success. If all my new year’s resolutions for 2020 could be summed in a sentence it would be this: my goal is to continue failing spectacularly.

As for the future of the blog, I’ve decided to do away with the rigid “One book/reflection a week” strategy I used this past year. I will still post on the blog, but it will be a free-form activity of reflections and other random thoughts. I will also start to venture away from novels and read books on politics, psychology, education, and whatever else catches my interest. Here’s to another year of reading!

“Shoot for the moon Even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”

-Norman Vincent Peale

General – Call Me Emilio

A Lesson In Failure