Jalen Gooch

Hey There!

First and foremost I wanted to apologize for the unannounced absence. It’s been almost two months since I last posted and I wanted to update you on what has been going on in my life and the future of this blog. 

I knew consistently writing and publishing for this blog would be a challenge, but it would also make me a better writer and a more well-rounded individual. I didn’t expect to make it past the first month, and I was honestly surprised to put out as many blogs as I have thus far.

Eventually, however, I hit a wall. I still had plenty of ideas for future blogs and things I could write about, it just became significantly harder to find the motivation to start writing. I told myself I would give myself a week off to reset, and as expected, weeks turned into months.

I planned on waiting until the New Year and starting the season off by sharing my goals and what I hoped to accomplish in 2025. All momentum for this project quickly came to a halt, when I sat down and realized that for the first time in years, I had no goals for the upcoming year.

Before I continue, I think it’s also important to mention that when I started this blog, I had just moved back home, was mostly unemployed aside from a few freelancing gigs, and generally had an abundance of free time on my hands.

Although I am working part-time now, working during the holidays was no joke, and I often took on overnight or early morning shifts, leaving it hard to find the energy to write when I got home.

Sitting down to write my goals for the new year, I realized that I had spent so much time in survival mode the last few months, that the biggest goal I had for myself was just to make it to the end of the week. 

As I reflected further, I realized there was a lot of hesitation to set new goals for the year being that last year, I dreamed bigger than I probably should have. I’ve always been drawn to the type of people who don’t limit what could be possible for their future, and in a way manifest that life for themselves.

2024 was the first year I would not be a student. There was no longer that far-off goal of graduating college that I had to look forward to in middle and high school. Anything that came next was completely up to me, so what did I have to lose by dreaming big?

You’ve probably guessed by now that most of the things I had hoped for and wanted to have by the end of 2024 never came to fruition. I remember telling my friends I didn’t know what was next, but I knew moving back home was not an option. (As I write this, I am entering my 4th month of living back home). 

While in previous years I had been able to set concrete goals for myself and accomplish them with ease, looking back on 2024, I had largely failed to accomplish many of the larger goals I had hoped to achieve. I didn’t land a full-time job and ended up moving back home with my parents, which was the last place I wanted to be when 2024 came to a close.

Every year I make a checklist of different experiences I want to try or accomplish by the end of the year. While I’ve never completed these lists, I generally complete a good number of what I set out to do. Looking back on the list I created this past year, however, I noticed most, if not all, of the boxes remained unchecked. 

Sitting down to plan for 2025, I realized I couldn’t think of any goals or major life shifts I wanted to happen because I no longer believed that I could make those changes. After facing numerous setbacks in 2024, my sense of self-efficacy felt non-existent and I still find it hard to trust myself to pull through in difficult situations.

Ironically, despite my attitude towards it, 2024 was a relatively successful year when measured against different metrics. While it is true that I did not meet most of the goals I had set for myself in January, I accomplished several feats that I never envisioned for myself.

When I sat down to write my goals for the new year last year, I had no idea that in just a few weeks I would be working at the bar I frequented with my friends every Tuesday. The half-marathon I ran in November wasn’t a one-time event but would be one of four leading to a full marathon in July.

I had no idea I would start this blog, experiment with podcasting, and even experience moderate success freelancing for a short period. The goals that I had set in January no longer fit the person I was growing into with each passing month.

While it still sucks that I wasn’t able to be completely self-sufficient and living somewhere other than my childhood home by the end of the year, I still invested a lot of time and energy into projects that have made me a better person overall.

That said, aside from the busy work schedule, I hesitated to return to blogging, feeling that maybe this project was destined to end. Like most projects I picked up, I would work on them consistently for a month, grow bored, and never touch them again.

I felt embarrassed for thinking that I could make something out of this and that it would help me grow as an individual. Every time I saw or thought about the blog I was reminded of my inability to keep a consistent writing and posting schedule till the end of the year.

While I am not thrilled it’s taken me this long in the new year to write this post, I want to continue to push myself to challenge those voices in my head limiting myself from what I think is possible.

I am forever thankful for everyone who has continued to support and visit the blog in my absence and I hope I haven’t let you down. As for moving forward, I want to continue posting regularly, but with the recent changes that are currently unfolding in my life, it is unlikely that I will be able to do so at the same volume as I did last year.

My current goal is to post at least once a week but give myself more flexibility in my posting schedule so I don’t burn out as quickly as last year. Yet again, I find myself at a point in my life where I am at a crossroads, unsure of where the future will lead. 

As isolating as it can feel at times, I know I am not the only one experiencing these feelings and hope that my experience navigating this time can help others going through the same. 

So to close, thank you again to everyone who has stuck by my side thus far. I’m sorry to make you all wait, and here’s to an amazing 2025.

Cheers!