listen to myself...or don't?

 Yesterday I gave my mom some advice during a quick text chat. She's training for her first full marathon but is running into some injury obstacles, which make her worry about achieving her marathon goal. I told her its okay to be flexible with the details...if she has to walk instead of run or if she has to pick a different marathon date, that's okay, she still will achieve her goal of finishing a marathon. Focus on the good, look on the bright side, etc etc. I felt very wise.

 A few weeks ago I came across a long forgotten  list of goals I wrote 9 years ago. I got kind of sad because I had forgotten the goals, did nothing to work toward them, and I felt I hadn't achieved any  of them. Granted, I have changed, and life has changed, and some of the goals I've tackled in part...But I should listen to my own advice. Be flexible with the details. Be positive about what you have achieved. Be willing to revisit and modify your plans. Work around the things you can't control.

 Or am I full of it? I don't know...do you think this is good advice or bad? I think it's good, but then a little part of me wonders if it's just justifying excuses out of fear of failure. Is it better to set super specific goals? Or, like most things, is there no simple answer? Long term life goals can't be treated the same as small project goals...can they?