Tag: No Resolutions

Goals, Not Resolutions



I don’t do resolutions, I do goals.

Resolutions come from a position of weakness: I’m not doing good enough, I need to fix something. Goals come from a position of strength: I want to make something new happen.

Resolutions aren’t backed by planning. Goals are — and in making the parameters of the goal SMART (specific, measurable, appropriate, relevant, time-constrained). The plan follows, and the plan increases the chances of success.

Here are my revised writing goals for the New Year:

Short-term: 

  • ·       Develop a platform plan by March 1, 2020
  • ·       Write/submit 5 short stories/poems/flash fiction by December 31, 2020
  • ·       Revise via developmental edit by March 1, 2020
  • ·       Send 50 queries for Gaia’s Hands by February 1, 2020
  • ·       Send 50 queries for Whose Hearts are Mountains  by October 1, 2020

 Long-Term:  

  • ·       Get an agent
  • ·       Publish my first book
  • ·       Discuss with agent further books
  • ·      Develop personal sales presence
  • ·      Develop idea for next novel

Notice that my long-term goals are not SMART, largely because they depend on things beyond my control. I put them in as motivational, as a way to envision where I’d like to be. As that trajectory becomes clearer, I will be able to make them SMART.

I have other SMART goals for the year — one is to lose 30 pounds by December 31, 2020 through eating a well-balanced 1500 calorie a day diet and exercising (the development of getting physically fit is in another goal). I will evaluate my goal every month or so and adjust accordingly if I’m not losing 2.5 pounds a month. (If I’m losing more, that’s fine!)

Well-laid plans will beat resolutions every time. Unless they gang aft agley, I guess.

We’ll drink a cup of kindness yet …

I don’t make resolutions, because they’re more wish than goal without the supports that will make it happen. However, it is my custom over New Year’s Eve/New Year’s Day to do all the important things I want to incorporate in my life. In other words, I prefer my superstitious tradition to the superstitious tradition of making resolutions. Go figure.

Therefore, in the next two days, I need to:

  1. Write. Yes, I haven’t given that up yet. I am writing this (because I want to maintain the blog) and I will hit my head against the dev edit of Voyageurs which somehow needs 24,000 words without extraneous information. Or maybe I should write the first page of a future novel. 
  2. Eat well. I’ve actually been doing that for the most part for almost three years. I’ve lost 65 lbs from my heaviest. I’d like to lose 20 more pounds, but my body doesn’t seem to want to, I don’t want to fall back into old habits.
  3. Walk. This is something I need to incorporate in my life. I need to find more supports to walking because it’s not something I love to do.
  4. Work. By this I mean start to organize my new semester. I will probably set up my new semester calendar today or tomorrow.
  5. Self-care. Good smelling bath and a facial mask for fun. Rose perfume (which I got cheaply — it’s a sample size).
  6. Reach out to others. This has been very difficult for me lately. My fears of rejection have multiplied with all the writing rejections I’ve gotten.
  7. Laugh. Oh, hell, I don’t need to try to do that. I laugh all the time.
Love and best wishes for your New Year (if you celebrate this version of New Year)!