Starting the year the right way

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tiramisustudio / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

I've made some goals for 2016. Some of them are smaller goals that will be easy to achieve, but others are bigger goals that will be more complex, and will establish a foundation for long-term goals.

But I'm trying to be smarter about my goals this year. I'm focusing on taking small steps a little at a time instead of big changes all at once.

I know that it'll be easier for me to be successful if I take it one step at a time, and experience has shown me that trying to do everything all at once is less than successful.

I'm optimistic about 2016. Bo and I have big, exciting short- and long-term plans, and we're finally making progress toward them. we've overcome some big challenges, and we have a plan to overcome some other challenges that have popped up lately.

2016 is going to be a good year.

It already is.

This year's mantra is...

Two years ago, I decided to start focusing on one mantra to help me in times of anxiety. The mantra was chosen as a result of things I experienced the year before.

This year's mantra is

This is just a moment. Rise above it.

There were a lot of struggles in 2015, many of which built on one another, which was frustrating. Some of those struggles are over, some are still there, and some have gotten worse. So this year, in order to keep me from getting bogged down by anxiety and linking what is happening to what has happened, I've chosen this mantra as a reminder.

I have high hopes for 2016, based primarily on what I have planned, and what Bo and I have planned for our family. There are still great struggles to come, but when we overcome them, things will be very, very good.

Bring it on, 2016. I'm ready.

The year in review

2014 has been a good year for me and my family. And while I'm excited about looking ahead to what's coming in 2015, I think it's also valuable to look at how this year has gone because it has been instrumental in making me who I am and putting me where I am.

This was the year I met Bo, and that has made all the difference in my life. I could say nothing else about my year, and that would be enough.

Bo and I have been (officially) dating for about nine months. And as cheesy as it sounds, the longer we're together, the happier I am. She makes me happy, the munchkins adore her, and she makes me feel like I'm finally living my happily ever after. I can't wait to see what 2015 brings for our relationship.

But that's not all I've had to celebrate this year.

I've expanded my client base, and made some decisions about how my work is going to change in the near future that will help me achieve significant short- and long-term career goals. (I can't really discuss those changes yet because I'm still in the earliest planning stages, but I will give more information at each phase of the plan.)

The munchkins are doing great this year!

Puck is enjoying kindergarten. It's been amazing to see him progress throughout the fall semester. When I had a conference with his teacher, she showed me his journal, and I could see the improvement week by week. He's smart and engaged and is learning something new every day. If we can keep this mentality through the next several years, at least, Puck will do great all the way through.

Tink is pretty ready for pre-K next year. She knows a lot of sight words, can write all her letters and her first and last name, and is doing well at sounding out words when she reads on her own. I know some of it is her desire to keep up with Brother, but not all of it. Tink is smart, and she's going to do well when she starts school next year. She has a solid foundation to be successful, just like Puck.

The munchkins are both happy and healthy and full of spunk, just the way we like them.

And we got a puppy this year! Clara has been a wonderful addition to our family. She's cute and fun and sweet. She loves us and we love her. There have been moments that have been a challenge, to be sure, but the good memories far outweigh the challenges.

We're still working on her jealousy issues a bit. She doesn't like it when someone else is getting attention from me that she thinks she needs. But that's getting better, too.

She and the munchkins are besties, which is just the way I hoped it would be. I wanted a dog in our family not only as a companion for me when the munchkins are with Monty, but she truly is a family dog.

It's been a good year. Busy, somewhat chaotic (especially as we got to the end of the year), but it's been good. And I'm looking forward to whatever comes next.

How has 2014 been for you? What are you most looking forward to in 2015?

What will 2014 be for me?

The lovely, talented, funny and wonderful Carmen over at Mom to the Screaming Masses posted this yesterday looking toward 2014, and I'm totally stealing it and doing it myself. I'm all about 2014 (it's going to be my year), so this is perfect for me to start the year out with. I encourage you to think about your answers to these prompts yourself as you start this new and exciting year.

 



A bad habit I'm going to break: I'm terrible about drinking soda (particularly Dr. Pepper). I know I drink too much soda and it's just empty calories, but as hard as I've tried, I just can't break the soda habit. So this year I'm going to make a concerted effort to stop drinking so much soda. It's part of the changes I'm trying really hard to make to be a healthier me.

A new skill I'd like to learn: This year, I'm going to start sewing. I've made the commitment to making pajamas for the cousins for Christmas next year, and I need lots of practice. Along with that, I'd love to be able to quilt, as well. But we'll start with simple sewing first.

A person I hope to be more like: There are a lot of people I admire in my life. There are different people I look up to for different reasons, and different people who have traits that I want to see more of in myself. However, I'm going to be a little selfish in this answer. This year, I hope to be more like myself. I'm finally living my authentic self and being true to who I am, and in 2014, I want to continue to be true to who I am and be authentically me.

A good deed I'm going to do: For me, it works much better to do little things as I can rather than committing to bigger ways of helping/volunteering. My schedule can be a bit crazy, and I don't want to commit to a program and then not be able to follow through. So instead, this year, I want to keep my eyes open to help others whenever and wherever I can, knowing that even "little" things can have a big impact on people's lives.

A place I'd like to visit: I'm back in Florida, so I'm looking forward to lots of beach time, but one particular place I'd like to go is the Florida Keys. The Hemingway House is in Key West, and I'd love to go and see it, and do a little exploring that far south.

A book I'd like to read: Oh, my goodness.... This is a hard one. There are so many books I want to read that this kind of seems like an unfair question. But if I had to pick one particular book that is a must-read on my list this year, I think it would have to be The Norton Book of Women's Lives. I picked it up at Barnes & Noble some time ago and haven't read it yet. It's an anthology, and I'm hoping will be a good volume to take with me on my next trip to Illinois (I'll definitely need something for the airport!).

A letter I'm going to write: Like most people, particularly of my generation, I'm terrible at writing letters. Sometimes I'm even terrible about replying to emails for friends and family. But I think writing letters can be a good way to strengthen a connection with someone, so committing to writing a letter this year is a good challenge. So I'm planning to write a letter to a friend I've lost touch with in order to try and reconnect.

A new food I'd like to try: I've committed to a vegan lifestyle, and though I had a few slips in 2013 (it's a process), there are no animal products or by-products in my kitchen, and I'm feeling confident about my plant-based, compassionate diet in 2014. To help keep myself committed to this lifestyle, I want to make sure there's lots of variety in my diet, so trying new foods is going to be common this year. One particular food I'm looking forward to trying is kale. I've never had it, and heard lots of great things about it (including kale chips, which sound yummy to me). So it's definitely on my list this year.

I'm going to do better at: (This is another steal from Carmen, but it's true for me, so I'm going with it.) listening to my body and taking care of myself. 2013 was a difficult year for me for a lot of reasons. And I know that the best way I can continue to take care of the munchkins is to take care of myself, too. So I'm going to do what I need to do in order to be healthy and happy, so that the munchkins can continue to be happy and healthy.

If you decide to fill this out, please let Carmen know--I know she'd be happy to read what you're going to do in 2014!

Have a wonderful year!

Obligatory end-of-the-year post

Every year around this time, I start thinking about the end of the year. I think about where I am in my life, particularly in comparison to where I wanted to be. I look at what I want to accomplish in the coming year, and what I need to do in order to make it happen.

That's where my head has been lately. I'm not currently where I want to be, but I'm on the right track to get there. I'm making positive changes in my life (both professionally and personally) to move forward. I have specific goals I want to accomplish, and timelines associated with them.

This year, I'm taking a slightly different approach in working toward my goals.

One problem I've had is I spend a lot of time thinking about the goals I didn't accomplish, and mourning the fact that I'm not where I want to be. But with all of the changes that have occurred in my life over the past couple of years, I know it's important for me to let go of what's happened, forget what I haven't done, and just move forward from where I am.

This is my life. It is what it is. And all I can do is try harder next year, next week, tomorrow, right now to be the person I want to be. And that's what I'm doing.

It doesn't matter what happened (or didn't) in 2013. I'm stepping out from this moment toward 2014, and focusing on where I am to get where I'm going. What's happened doesn't matter anymore. All that matters is this moment, and doing what I can to be the woman I am in that moment.

Who do you want to be in 2014?

Goals for 2012

The past few years I've chosen not to make resolutions for the new year. Instead, I've set goals. It may seem an insignificant difference (especially when the end result is that I make positive changes in my life), but it's a big difference to me. To me, resolutions are ironclad promises you make to yourself of things that have changed or things you will or will not do. They are... resolute. Goals, on the other hand, are things you'd like to do or stop doing, but you're realistic in that it will take time and effort.

If I make a resolution and break it or don't achieve it, I feel bad. If I make a goal and don't meet it, I keep trying.

Big difference.

So I'd like to share with you a few of the goals I've set for myself for 2012.

I would like to read 100+ books in 2012. I know it's a lot. I used to read voraciously. Motherhood sort of changed my priorities so I don't read as much. This year I'm taking a reading challenge, and even if I don't hit that magical number, I'll still have read a lot more than I would have otherwise!

I would like to finish the coffee house book in 2012. By "finish," I mean I'd like to write, edit, and polish the manuscript and have it ready to send out on queries. I've been working on this story for a long, long time, and it's time to tell it in its entirety.

I would like to reduce/eliminate negativity in my life in 2012. I know it's just about impossible to completely eliminate negativity in my life. And that's fine. But there was too much of it in my life in 2011, so I would like to work on distancing myself from overly negative people, as well as working on being more positive myself.

I would like to get healthy in 2012. I have a specific goal weight I would like to achieve, as well as some other health-related goals, but for the sake of this blog, I'll just say I'm going to "get healthy." On the short-term end of that goal, my mom and I intend to run our first 5K race this spring, so I have a lot of "get healthy"ing to do between now and then.

There are other goals, as well. There are things I'd like to do or see or change about my life. I've told many people already that, for me, 2012 is the year of change. But those are the big ones.

It's going to be a good year. I just know it.

On 2011

We're done with the first weekend of 2011 already.

As is often the case, I've been thinking a lot in the past week or so about what this year will bring, what I'd like to accomplish, and where my life is headed.

I didn't make resolutions for this year. I have in the past, but haven't always been so great at keeping them. So what I'm doing this year is setting goals instead. Maybe it's just the terminology that's different, but "goals" are a lot less intimidating to me than "resolutions." Goals I work towards. Resolutions have to be kept.

The biggest writing goal I have in 2011 is to write the coffee house book. 2011 will be the year of the coffee house book.

2011 will be the year of the coffee house book.

I'm much better prepared to write it now, my story, characters, and outline are far more developed, and I'm ready. This story is ready to be told. I'm more excited about the story than I have been in a very long time.

I think it's going to be a good year.

Setting writing goals

As December draws to a close, people are looking ahead to 2010, and thinking about what they want to accomplish in the new year.  This leads to creating resolutions or setting goals for the year, and writers are no different.

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2009, on Its First Day

Welcome to 2009!  I hope you accomplished all you wanted to during 2008, and I hope you're starting 2009 with a fresh perspective, a good attitude, and a smile.  There's lots that can be accomplished this year, and today is the first day to do that.

I'm looking forward to an exciting, eventful year, as well!  I have a lot going on this year, both professionally and personally, and while I'm not fully sure what to expect, I know 2009 will be a good year.

I've been thinking a lot lately about my professional resolutions.  There's a lot I want to accomplish this year, and between my business plan and my professional resolutions, I think I'll be able to meet my goals.

In no particular order, here are some of my New Year's Resolutions.

• Read (at least) two books each month, and keep a better record of what I've read.
• Write (at least) 7500 productive words a month (may be supplemented with editing).  At least half of written words each month must be fiction.
• Do a better job of staying "in the know" when it comes to the publishing industry.
• Follow my 2009 business plan to strengthen CSW.
• Experiment with a different genre/writing style each month (calendar forthcoming).

Back from Festivities, Still Writing

My holiday break from blogging was a bit more extended than I expected.  Hubby's family was in town from Chicago, so I was happily spending time with them and not writing.

To be honest, I needed the bit of a break, and now that I've had it, I'm going to be glad to get back to my regular schedule just in time for the New Year.  I've been working on CSW's 2009 business plan, and I'm excited about the new year, and what it's sure to bring.

Have you been thinking about your New Year's Resolutions?  I have.  I've also been thinking about what things I'll be glad to see go with 2008.  Are you leaving anything behind with this year?