I hope that everyone had a great holiday season! I know that I have been scarce since before Christmas and here we are already in a new year, but things get hectic for me during the holidays and this year seemed worse than usual. But 2020 is now here, the start of not only a new year, but a whole new decade as well. For me the new year means time to plan and set goals for the upcoming year. Not really resolutions, but I suppose you can argue that it is all semantics. Rather than just say what I want to accomplish though, I like to actually have a game plan for each of my goals.
This year I have a lot of personal and professional goals, but I think that I have outlined them and made each of them obtainable. First I want to get my personal trainer certification. That is one that should be done early in the year as I take my test at the end of January. I have already been studying hard and will continue t study until test day. This goal is definitely in reach and in sight. I then want to start a functional fitness channel on Youtube to help people get in shape and get healthy no matter their current situation. I also am upping my own personal exercise and healthy eating habits this year to lose some weight that has been dogging me ever since my hysterectomy a few years ago. Losing weight is harder now, but I am planning my workouts and meals better than ever and hey learning to be a personal trainer is helping in this category as well! I am really focusing on strength training like I have never in the past. And yoga is going to become a daily thing not just for my body, but for my mind and spirit as well. Now onto my more writerly and writing related goals. I want to read 65 books this year. Reading makes me a better writer so got to have time to read! I plan on getting back to a regular writing routine and to publish more than I did in 2019. I want to write and publish at least 3-4 short stories in anthologies throughout the year. I also plan on publishing at least 3. maybe 4, novellas and novels this year. One is the Christmas story that I just could not get right last year. It will be to my editor within a week and be ready for Thanksgiving 2020! I am also working on a contemporary romance and the third and final book in the Port Stone fantasy series to be out later this year. And maybe one more, we shall see. I also need to get my marketing game on this year after really slacking for most of 2019. This means keeping active here on my blog, posting at least once a week. Sending out quarterly newsletters. Growing my audience on social media platforms. Maybe even making some author appearances! Gasp! I need to be more active and engaging with readers and I know this, last year was just a tough one for me to do this. Hopefully this helps me sell more books as that is the goal. I have some other personal ones, like declutter before we move later this year and pay off some bills and such. Goals that a lot of people have that I don't think I need to talk about much here. And one last fun goal that I have is to go see Harry Styles in concert. I am so obsessed with his music. It calms me, makes me happy, somehow taps into my own creativity and has helped me produce some of the best art of my life. I can go on and on about him! And I get to see him live this summer! Tickets are secured, so that's step one of the goal. Time is requested off from work. Step two. Now I need to find and pay for accommodations, save gas and spending money and actually make this dream come true! Only thing better would be to get to meet him but I don't think that is in the cards, so a kick ass concert will have to do! So that's my busy year all planned out more or less! Time to get to work and actually accomplish these goals! What are your goals for the new year? Leave them in the comments and let's cheer each other on!
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How is it April already? One third of the year is already gone! That means its time for me to assess my goals for the next quarter of the year. The first three months of 2019 were pretty good all things considering. I have written more each month, I started exercising again and am making slow progress in that area. I have read 17 books so far. All forward progress.
Now that it is April I am committing myself to a couple challenges to keep my momentum going. Starting on April 1 I have decided to walk at least one mile for the next 100 days. I plan on doing more than one mile most days of the challenge, but even on busy days or days when I want to do nothing I am at least doing a mile. I think it's important to get into a real habit of being consistent on my workouts and I have lots of support with this challenge. I am also taking part of the Camp NaNoWriMo this month. Now I am not trying to write the 50K words that I would try to do in November, but this month I am trying to get 25k words in. I am hoping to finish book two of Port Stone and get it to my editor by the end of the month. I also want to get closer to finishing Quest for Self so that I can get it to my editor by the end of May. Lots of writing to be done, especially with edits in the mix. I am also going to be working more on my art this month and for the rest of the year. I am not only painting miniatures, which is an art form all in its own, but I also am going to teach myself how to oil paint. I have a new art setup and am excited to see what I can learn and do. I have a series in mind, but first I want to get comfortable working in a new medium. Last quarter was a good start to the year, now let's see what the next three months have to show us! On the last blog I talked about my writing plans in 2019, now I am going to talk about the rest of my goals for next year.
Let's start off with art. For one, I want to do at least one painting a month. I also want to participate in more art shows and I already have two in the books for early 2019! I also am thinking about opening an etsy store just for my art. We shall see about that though. I have been playing with the idea of making a YouTube channel and I think that 2019 is the year to do it. I am working on a concept and learning to film and edit and hope to get it up and running early in the year. I will of course post my videos here on the blog too for those of you who might be interested. I am excited to step outside of my comfort zone and try something new. And of course what would a list of new year goals be without some personal and health goals. I have already been trying to make small changes in my health this year, but I want to do even more in 2019. I plan on walking more than ever, getting back to 10K a day at least. I also am going to keep cleaning up my diet. I am cutting back on sugar and want to eat more salads and veggies. Small changes are the way to go I think. I also really need to get back to doing yoga on a regular basis. And I am thinking about taking a weekly dance class just for fun! I just need to figure out how to balance work, writing, exercise, and life. It is all a work in progress, as am I. Luckily getting more organized is the other main goal I have for the year! What are your goals or resolutions for 2019? Comment below and let's cheer each other on! As some of you may know, last week was my 40th birthday. Eek, I certainly don't feel that old, but the calendar says differently. That, as well as reading Eat, Pray Love last month, have me thinking about my life and how I can work on me to improve my life. I am a work in progress, but aren't we all.
Now of course I made several goals for the new year back at the beginning of January, and I am working on all of those to improve my life as well. So far I have been walking more, blogging more, reading more, trying to be more organized, working on my writing, basically trying to better myself. And all of this is great and much needed. However, lately I have been thinking about other things that can improve my quality of life. Like getting rid of negativity. That comes to play in several areas of my life. First I am trying to work on the negative thoughts that plague me on a daily basis, be it about myself or something else, I don't need that negativity in my mind. I am trying to train myself to be more positive and in just a short time I am seeing some changes. This also means that I need to get away from the negative people and situations in my life. I cannot afford to be brought down by people and situations that I don't really need in my life. Some things are just too negative that you can't be around them. I am doing what I have to do to be healthy, happy, and safe. Are these changes hard? Yes, but they are also necessary. As I work on myself I will probably post from time to time on how things are going, sharing any tips that I might stumble across along the way. Of course I always want to hear from you too with any tips and advice that you might have. Like I said earlier, we're all works in progress and we all can help each other. On Monday I talked about my writing goals for 2018, well today I thought that I would share my health goals for the new year.
I think health goals and resolutions are some of the most common ones that people make this time of year and I am no different. I have some health issues that will never disappear, but that doesn't mean that I can't do things to make my life better and healthier. Now for my own personal sanity, I am not setting specific weight goals and such, but rather just trying to improve my overall health. I plan on walking more this year and attempting to meditate and do yoga most days of the week. I am not going to say every day as that only sets me up for failure. In fact I didn't do much yoga or walking last week as I was fighting one of the nastiest colds I've had in a long time, but I am not beating myself up about it. This is a new week and I am getting back into the swing of things. I had started eating healthier last year and I am continuing that trend into this year. That means eating out less and just cooking more at home and watching what I eat. Sugar is something that I am eating a lot less of because eating it was making me feel not so good. That means I have really cut back on wine and drinking but truthfully I am not missing it. Small changes like this add up and that is what I am aiming for. I want to live a health lifestyle, not a quick fix. And I am so happy to report that my husband wants to join a gym with me so that we can work out 3-4 times a week together! I am really excited for us to get healthy together. Did you make some health goals for this year? What were they? Can you believe we are already a week into 2018? Where did 2017 go? Where did this past week go? I haven't even started to post my goals for 2018 here on my blog yet! Well today I start with my writing goals for this year.
First and foremost I am committing to being here on my blog 3 times a week, probably M/W/F. Will I sometimes post more? Yep, but I am going to make sure I at least hit my three each week. I am also working on becoming more organized with my writing and routine. One big help to this is a new writing desk and space dedicated just to writing. I have some cork boards and a white board to help me keep notes and weekly goals somewhere where I can see them. I am also committing time to sit down and write six days a week. I am giving myself Sundays off as everyone needs a break and Sundays are family time. Part of writing is getting your work out and into the hands of readers, which means social media is part of the business. That means I will try to keep more active on here, FB, Twitter and Instagram. I might even start putting some stuff up on Youtube once a month. Follow me at these various sites to get to know me more. And of course what are writing goals without some actual writing goals? I have a m/m hockey romance that will be finished this month and sent off for consideration at my publisher. Then I will be working on Quest for Self, the sequel to Quest for Redemption. I will also get to Quest for Love, the last in the trilogy, later this year. I have another fantasy romance that I will be sending to my publisher later this year and a sweet romance later in the year as well. To round all of these novels out I will be writing more short stories this year and cleaning up some old ones so that they can get out into the world. This is a tall order but I think that I can do it! I am continuing my theme of getting my goals for next year out into the universe. Today I am going to talk about my writing goals for 2017! I may not be writing quite as much due to the day job, but I will certainly be writing! Three novels to write, and at least six shorts. I will probably write some short stories as well for anthologies and magazines when I see calls that speak to me. I may not have a release a month in 2017, but I will still be pretty busy!
I hope that everyone had a great holiday weekend! Can you believe that there is only a week left in 2016? This has not been a good year for myself and my husband, so I say good riddance to this year and am working hard already to make sure that 2017 is even better!
This week I will be setting some goals for the new year and sharing them with all of you so that I get my intentions out into the universe and so that I have some accountability as well! So let's start with some goals for this blog. This blog is a new start for me, so I intend to grow it to the level of the blog that I left behind for this new start. 1) With work and writing, I don't think that I will be positing every day, but look for me 4-5 time a week! 2) I am still catching up on giving book reviews, so I hope to have a review for you are least once a week, if not then at least every other week. I love to give well known and indie authors some more exposure. 3) Updates on my own writing and books for sale. Hey, a girl has to make a living too. 4) This year I would also like to talk about and share some causes that I support and am passionate about. I have this platform and I want to use it for some good. 5) I am also going to be blogging about my art and cooking this year. Get to know all my passions! I think thats a pretty good set of goals for this blog, don't you? |
AuthorAuthor, artist, jewelry maker and all around creative person. I write in many genres and have a lot of fun doing so. Please take a look around and enjoy! Archives
January 2022
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