Hello everyone! I hope your year is going well for you and that you're staying healthy and are enjoying the journey of the new year so far. When I was trying to decide what kind of post to write, it came to me that I should write about setting goals. I'm not into making resolutions--they always fail, but I can make goals. Now, some may think the definition of resolution is that same as a goal. It's not, my friends. Here's the difference:
Resolution: A firm decision to do or not do something.
The key word here is "firm". Unmoving; non-negotiable. Nah, I don't like that word, at least when it comes to the new year.
Goal: an object of a person's ambition or effort; an aim or desired result.
Ahh, much better. This sounds like there could be some flexibility here and I like that idea.
A new year is always an opportunity to start fresh and that’s what I plan to do. My goals are serious ones this year. But, as the definition states above, it's an ambition, and these can change:
I plan on having my my first book in a four book series, published in May with the second, hopefully, being published by the end of the summer, or early summer. I was hoping to get all 4 books of my series published this year, but I think I bit off more than I could chew. But, that's my aim, my ambition.
I plan on keeping up with my Planner and working on it every day, although already, I failed in the last 2 weeks
To keep my kanban board up to date quarterly (and I'm already behind on this)
Create an office in my spare bedroom/laundry room—This I have accomplished!
Stay consistent with providing great content on my website and increasing subscribers
Stay consistent with my blog posts—two a month
Write 30K words a month. So far, I'm right on target. At this rate, I could very well have four books out this year.
Create a Facebook Author page to engage readers before I publish
Create a Youtube Author site to engage readers and writers. I want to share my writing journey and offer writing tips.
To read more-- and I plan on reading one to 2 books a month which to some may seem like nothing.
Attend the FiLNE conference in October. As of this writing, NERWA doesn’t have any plans for a conference. But, if they plan a retreat in the summer, I’m hoping I can attend it.
Oh, and I need to have some ME time. I need to learn to say No and that it's okay.
My word for year is PRIORITIZE. I’ve been procrastinating for far too long an dit’s time to make my dreams and goals materialize.
I hope I can look back on 2021 and see how many of my goals I accomplished and if my dream of being published became a reality.
The last few months of 2020 were stressful for me in so many ways. With all that was going on in the news regarding the election and riots and protests, I decided I had to stop watching the news. It was too much and eating away at my soul. The world was becoming sick and it made me sick. I didn’t want to pretend the real world didn’t exist, certainly not, but I did need to back away and go into my fictional world where peace reigned. I also had to deal with some news about my husband's health which has put him on the path of depression and increased anxiety which only adds to my anxiety. And, I never do well when the days get shorter and darker. I love lightness and the long days of summer.
I have to say that the few groups I belong to were supportive and encouraging and I wrote more words in the last two months of 2020 than I had the previous ten! That’s when I knew I could do this. I love my writer friends , supporters and collegues—they keep me going when I want to give up. There are many times I want to give up and feel as though being a writer is a fool’s journey but they make me feel validated and they encourage me to keep going, to ignore the naysayers and the doubters and to keep moving on. And when doubts and despair find them wanting to give up, I encourage them. When one of them is having a bad day or a horrendous week, I give them whatever support I can and they return it to me—It’s all about giving and paying it forward. I sometimes am my own worst enemy and my comrades in the writing world validate my feelings and keep me going when the real world wants to kick me to the side. I just want all of you who are reading this to know how much I appreciate you and how much you mean to me. As you help me, I want to help you.
As I set goals for this year, I wonder if I’m setting them too high, are they too ‘over the top’, but that’s the wonderful thing about goals. They can be changed. They’re not set in stone. The definition of a goal is “the object of a person's ambition or effort; an aim or desired result”. It’s just that—an AIM— something that can change and become a new goal. I used to think if I didn’t accomplish my goal(s), I was a failure to myself and those who had the confidence in me that I could do this, but not reaching a goal is not failure. It means that you changed your aim or a different result. Goals can change, and oftentimes do through the year, depending on what circumstances may have arisen in our lives. So, I say, make a goal, try to stick to it and if it’s not working, change it. Who cares? It’s YOUR goal, no one else’s.
Don't let the shiny new goals you set at the beginning of the year create despair if you see that you're not accomplishing anything as the days or months pass and suddenly your shiny new goal has lost its luster and is no longer important to you. Because we're relying on our creativity to accomplish our writing goals, it can be upsetting to know we're not reaching the goals we set. Why? Because creativity is a fickle creature. It comes and goes as it wants and sometimes we just can't control it. I found this excellent article on the Writer's Digest site:
It also helps to become involved with other writers who can support you and cheer you and help you reach the top of the mountain. Join writing groups--there are so many out there. I want you to reach your goals and become successful. I'm cheering you on to reach the summit.
So, as I come to ending this post, I wish for all of my writer friends out there to accomplish any goal they set and if you don’t, you are still successful because you TRIED. I hope you find the support I have found; to find online friends you can connect to and have a sense of belonging. I want you find the same friends and colleagues to help you accomplish your goals for 2021 and if I can be a support to you in any way, I am more than willing to do that.
Wishing you the best of 2021!