Happy New Year! I sincerely hope everyone's 2018 is better than their 2017. May you have a year of blessings, surrounded by people you love and who love you in return. Pursue your dreams. They can happen - become a reality. Set your goals and work every day toward them. Personally, I've been looking forward to 2018 since probably the middle of November. I took a hard look at my year, both professionally and personally. I summed up the results below.
My favorite memories from 2017 include:
* R graduating from high school.
* Taking R for first a college visit then to get books after s/he was accepted to the local community college.
* Visiting with family and friends, especially my aunt and uncle from Texas.
The Positive:
* I made sense of money matters.
* I discovered the Miracle Morning
* I discovered the Writing Excuses Podcast
* Learning to deal create and update my own website.
The Negatives:
* Depression, PTSD, and Stress
* Lack of motivation
* I didn't finish, submit, or have anything published this year.
What held me back:
* Fear
* Depression
* Anxiety
* Lack of planning
* Lack of focus
What helped:
* Establishing a morning routine (Miracle Morning)
* Listening to the Writing Excuses Podcast - motivation
* Readjusting my goals so I'm setting myself up for success instead of failure. - Short, time based goals.
* Accountability - posting my word count update to Instagram.
My 2017 Goals were:
* Ideally, I want to write 12 books, my goal is 5. -- I didn't finish any
* Write 365,000 words -- which sounds like a lot until you realize it's only 1,000 words a day. Some authors manage 6,000 - that's my goal, but I still have a day job and life stress, so, 1,000 it is.
1st Quarter - 14, 455
2nd Quarter - 12,049
3rd Quarter - 8,368
4th Quarter - 6,631
Total - 41, 503 words
Best month - January (7,303)
Worst month - October (79)
* Read 26 books
3 Classics
3 Non-Fiction
20 - Whatever
Read 12 -
3 Classics
3 Non-Fiction
6 Whatever -
5 fiction
1 non-fiction
* Blog Weekly - nope.
In Review -
Numbers are nice, but without a point of reference or context, they're just numbers. January as a high number makes sense, because I entered 2017 with tons of energy. October as the lowest number kind of surprised me. It's probably misleading a bit though. I wrote long-hand on a couple of stories - started them anyway, but those words aren't counted in the numbers above. It could be as much as 2500 words off, but I haven't counted and I'm not sure where I stuck either notebook to count. I figured I'd count them when I typed them in, but I haven't done that yet.
October and November are particularly busy at the day job, but this year there was a lot more stress, and it leaked over into December. All of it. The paycheck was nice, but I'm burnt out. It's taken about a week for me to start to feel normal again. I have a long weekend and because of the crappy weather, I haven't had to go out or do a whole lot. Which is nice. I stitched and read. Mostly stitched. But, I'm ready to get back to work. Not to my day job, but to writing. To the job I really really want to have.
One of the things I have to take into account going forward is the almost non-stop negativity and hatred that seems to be permeating everything. For me, it's draining. Mentally, emotionally, and even physically. It's more important that ever for me to find the joy in the every day things. In small things. Squirrels playing. Deer eating. Early morning undisturbed snow. The brilliant Full Moon tonight. It will come in finding people and causes to support, that are worth spending the energy on.
Looking Ahead to 2018
I plan on continuing my short, time-based daily goal of writing 15 minutes a day. I have to build the writing momentum back up, and it's hard to start again after not writing for a while. At least it is for me with all I've been dealing with.
One of the things I realized that I missed and am missing in my life is a writers group. More than just a writer's group, but to hang out and talk with other writers. I need to get out and meet new people period. But, I do need to find a critique group or start one and I'll rejoin RWA when my taxes come in.
I do have a word count goal I'd like to hit, but I would rather focus on finishing projects. So, I'll be tracking my word count in my Sprint Log and on my project trackers, but my focus is for 2018 is to really get back into a regular writing routine. I know I will need to deal with mental health issues occasionally, but hopefully they won't become debilitating.
I have broken my yearly goals down into quarterly goals and monthly goals. To me, goals should be in manageable chunks that don't set you up for failure, push you or motivate you, and can be measured accurately.
For January my goals are:
Finish "Behind the Masque"
Write 15 minutes every day
I thought about saying I only have to write 5 times a week, but the idea is to re-build a habit. New habits take 30 days to form completely and solidly. So, every day. Because, I actually don't like my job. Not really. I love the mission of the organization, but it doesn't make me happy. Writing makes me happy. This is how I want to spend my days. My goal in 2018 is to myself on the path to being able to write full time.
Happy New Year!!
Have a Blessed Year,
Simone.
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