Accepting the fact I am in this for the long haul has taken the pressure off me. I'm not one of those writers who say by the time I'm 50 I want to have achieved this or that. Just as well really given I turned 50 earlier this year!
Yes, it is good to set goals but are those writers who do set specific ones lining themselves up for disappointment should these things not happen as they thought? I would have thought in the vast majority of cases, things won't happen exactly as anticipated, life being what it is at times.
And, in any case, sometimes the writing journey can literally take you down avenues you did not expect. I never thought I would write non-fiction but love blogging for Chandler's Ford Today. It is important to keep an open eye and mind to spot potential opportunities and not be so fixated on achieving Goal X, you miss completely the chance to achieve something special with Opportunity Y.
This is all true for our characters as well. Are they so fixated on an ambition they lose sight of other things/people that could have been useful/important to them? Does the plot turn on such missed chances? How do the ambitious affect those around them? Equally those who do take unexpected chances, what successes do they have with these?