oh, wait. Not like soap and bubbles and a nice, warm towel…clean as in “truth time”.
If you’ve read my blogs or even some of my writing articles over the last few years, you’ll know I’m a huge believer in setting goals, which naturally makes the New Year one of my favorite reflect & reinvent times. Who doesn’t like the notion (even if abstract) of starting fresh and clean, with a new slate and new pocket full of chalk? I know I do.
That’s why what I did was such a shock.
I didn’t set resolutions.
(hearing collective gasp).
At least not the traditional way I have in the past. Setting goals for me is a fun, thoughtful process, but it has also been an immense source of frustration. I tend to set writing goals like “finish this fiction story by March” and “sell 15 articles in two months…”. When March rolls around and I only have six chapters done (instead of 14) or 12 articles sold, it gets me down. Now, I do have to turn the bottle around and see things as half-full, too, but if you know my mind, I still feel the residual effect of not meeting the initial goal I set.
So this year I did it a little different. Instead of concrete, specific, one-line goals, I wrote out all the “things” I want/intend/would like to accomplish by 2010 (now that’s scary in and of itself!) and began categorizing. I had well over two pages of life, writing and other random goals, but as I worked, I discovered a pattern to them. They all fit into three broad categories:
–Profit
–Connect
–Downsize
Looking at them now, they look like a business manifesto LOL. But what’s neat is that I printed these three simple words on everything I come in contact with each day: the massive 2009 calendar on my wall with all my magazine, speaking and other writing deadlines, my writing day-planner, my daily day-planner, the dry erase board by the door…just short of tattooing them on my arm (there’s an idea!), I’ve put them in high-profile places where I’m bound to see them on a daily basis.
My resolution, then, after discovering these giant categorical connections, was to do at least one thing from each of the three categories…every single day. Yes, that’s right.
Every single day I will do something to connect…with editors, family, old friends, people I need to talk with but put off and say “oh, I’ll do that later” (I’m also trying to eliminate the phrase “too busy” from my vocab…that’s a challenge for sure!)
I am working to profit each day, and not necessarily with cold, hard cash for something I’ve written or created. An example is that an editor I’ve worked with in the past and truly enjoyed working with emailed me a week ago as a last resort. She had nothing to fill a slot for her April magazine and needed something fast on short notice. The short notice didn’t get me, but the lack of a paying gig did. However, I enjoy her emails and respect her publication–not to mention whipping up an article for her is easy-peasy as I have enough background knowledge on the subject to not have to do one lick of research. My payoff is another credit in a month where I haven’t yet gotten the gig I wanted and am in the good graces of an editor who likes my work. Not always about money!
Downsizing…well, that cuts across the span of my life. Downsize as in “get rid of all the garbage in the basement”, “purge all the old fiction novels you’ve started and not finished”, “donate all the stuff you don’t use anymore to someone less fortunate” and “quit eating garbage so you finally lose that weight you’ve been yammering about for decades”. Maybe the mini-donuts the hub brought home today didn’t fit in the downsizing (the body) section but they did fit in the downsizing (the kitchen) section LOL!
I’m still in the training-wheel phase of my goals. I’m trying to remember to do something from all three groups every day. If I do, I pat myself on the back. If I don’t, I think about where I could have, and concentrate on what I can do tomorrow.
And when March rolls around and I have 22 new freelance deadlines instead of 24 for the upcoming 12 months, I won’t kick myself for not being perfect. I’ll think about how excited I am to have those 22 assignments and do a little bit more tomorrow!
How about you? If you could categorize your 2010 resolutions to three groups, what would they be? And what are you doing EVERY SINGLE DAY toward them? I would LOVE to hear what you’re up to. Give me inspiration (but not donuts 
)
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