Tuesday, January 3, 2012

My New Year's Resolutions



I always do resolutions every year and stick to them. The trick is: I don't overshoot. I have reasonable goals.

One year I vowed to call everyone back that called me within 24 hours, which is a great business policy to follow. I kept to it, and now I call everyone back to this day. It's less stress, because I don't have thoughts hanging over me like, "I have to call so-and-so." I just do it and get it done.

Another year I vowed to be better at small talk so I never got into an awkward silence. I worked on it, and now I can talk about "nothing" for quite a long time. This has proven to be more helpful than I thought.

Here are my resolutions for this year:

1. Throw out the naysayers.

You know, those people that give you bad reviews, or find a way to point out your flaws just to make themselves feel better. Well, I decided I don't have time for them. I'm going to brush it off, and focus on more productive things. This will be the hardest resolution to stick by, because every critical comment gets to me, making me mad. Why can't people focus on the positive?

Taylor swift said it all in her new song, "People throw rocks at things that shine."

2. Clean a little everyday.

I need to take breaks, get off the computer anyway. So, why not clean just a little everyday, even if it's for ten-fifteen minutes? At least I'll feel like I accomplished something.

3. Do something for other people everyday.

I do help people, but it's sporadic. I need to start thinking about what the people around me need.

4. Less procrastination, more word count. I wrote two and a half novels, one novella, and one short story in 2011 (231K), and I'd like to step up that pace this year. I'm shooting for 1-2K a day (potentially 365-730K).

What are your resolutions?

6 comments:

Cherie Reich said...

Great resolutions, and I know you'll be able to do them!

I'd like to read 52 books this year, including six on writing, so I can help improve my craft. I want to officially create my own editing/publishing business, so people can find me to edit their work and I can use the publishing side to self-publish some short story collections. Then, I'll be editing and writing and vice versa. *laughs* I'm definitely trying to go with less procrastination this year.

Nicole Zoltack said...

Awesome resolutions! I love the idea of cleaning just a little bit each day. I should do that too.

Alyssa Ast said...

Great resolutions. I do have to say, I LOVE #3. If more people set that as a goal, we would be at a much better place. Good luck to you this year!

Christine Rains said...

Those are wonderful resolutions! You can do it! :)

I plan to write one short story a month and submit it. Also revise three of my manuscripts and query them. Reasonable, right?!

Beth Caudill said...

I'm blown away by your word count.

I'm basing my goals on actual completed stories this year and not word count. I spend too much time writing on multiple stories.

Goal Pen Name 1 - 2 novella's and 1 short story published

Goal Pen Name 2 - 3 maybe 4 short stories.

I'm self publishing these because they are on the short side of the publishing business. So it's all up to me to get the work done.

I'm in control of my destiny this year. Bahhh haaa.

Racquel Henry said...

It was an awesome writing year for you! Good luck with your new goals! My biggest goal is to revise my novel and begin querying agents. :)