Some time ago, during a Mastermind conversation, we were asked to put a wish or a goal on the calendar.
Not a small one.
A real one.
The kind that stretches you just by saying it aloud.
Mine was clear:
Be a best-selling author.
Have my income replaced.
Sessions booked months ahead.
I put it on the calendar… and moved on.
No follow-up.
No daily check-in tied to it.
Just a moment of intention placed somewhere in time.
Today, I came across it again.
And my first thought was—
I’m not there yet.
Followed quickly by another question…
When did I decide I was supposed to be?
I looked at the calendar, expecting it to tell me.
A timestamp.
A starting point.
Something that would say, you set this six months ago or a year ago or 90 days ago.
But there was nothing.
No marker of when it was created.
No visible beginning.
And I realized something almost instantly…
I’ve been measuring myself against a timeline I never clearly set.
It’s interesting…
Photos remember when a moment happened.
They hold the exact date, the exact time.
They can take you right back to where you were.
But my calendar didn’t remember when I decided this mattered.
It held the goal.
But not the beginning of the expectation.
And somehow, without that starting point,
a quiet pressure still formed.
That subtle voice that says:
You should be further along by now.
But based on what?
A timeline that was never defined?
A clock that was never started?
The truth is…
The book is done.
Not imagined.
Not half-started.
Not sitting in a folder waiting for someday.
Done.
I’m in the phase of feedback.
Refinement.
Positioning.
The part no one really talks about as much.
The part that lives between creation and visibility.
And maybe that’s the piece I needed to see.
Not that I missed the goal…
…but that I’m in the middle of it.
Because “best-selling author” doesn’t happen the day the book is finished.
It happens after:
being seen
being shared
being received
It happens in layers.
In phases.
In time.
And maybe the deeper truth is this…
I didn’t fail the timeline.
There was no timeline.
There was only an intention…
and the person I’m becoming as I move toward it.
Maybe it was never about when I wrote it down.
Maybe it was about the fact that I did.
That I claimed it.
That I named it.
That I allowed myself to see something bigger.
Because when I look at it now…
I’m not where I imagined I would be.
But I’m also not where I was.
And for the first time, I’m not asking:
Why isn’t this done yet?
I’m asking:
What part of this is already happening that I haven’t fully seen?
Reflection
- Have you ever held yourself to a timeline you never clearly set?
- What goals are you measuring yourself against right now?
- Are you in the middle of something… but calling it unfinished?
Theresa
Flexible Being
Empowering Your Journey to Healing, Clarity, and Self-Discovery.
If something in this post stirred something in you…
that’s often where the real work begins.
You don’t have to figure it out alone.
Reach out when you’re ready:
Email: theresa@flexiblebeing.com
Website: www.flexiblebeing.com
Instagram:
@theresamartinezshapiro
@flexiblebeing
Facebook:
@flexiblebeingonline
