New Year, New Goals!

Don’t you just love the fresh feel of a new year? I’ve been a bit busy, hence the lateness of this post, but better late than never. And I have been making progress on my goals already, which is the important part.

January is probably my favorite month. It’s my birth month, which may have something to do with it, but it’s also a new start, and often cold and snowy, which means plenty of time to hole up inside with hot drinks and warm blankets.

I’ve had some rough starts in recent years, but this year feels different. Better. Like it actually *wants* to be a good year, rather than just another obstacle course of challenges (or at least a somewhat easier obstacle course, anyways).

Regardless, I’ve decided to take it easy on the goals this year, and while some are fairly lofty, they should all be attainable even if I fall off track here and there. Nothing too rigid, nothing too demanding, just things that will eventually get done if I’m even 75 percent solid with my routines.

If you’ve been here for a few years, you know that I make a decent sized list of goals, and then pick three to dub actual “Resolutions”. Resolutions are the top priority – they get the first pick on the daily/weekly/monthly schedules, and they get more of the focus than anything else.

All the other goals are just “goals”, and I work on them after I’ve gotten the Resolutions taken care of for the day/week/whatever.

This year, my big three are:

1. Improve my handwriting through daily practice
This one stems from my increasing inability to read my *own* handwriting, which has just gotten worse over the years as I’ve moved most of my documentation and communication online. I decided I should do something about it, and I have to say, I’ve actually been enjoying the daily practice sessions so far (and yes, my handwriting is improving, slowly).

2. Pay off as much debt as possible.
I am a spender, not a saver. My family was poor when I was young, but unlike a lot of people in that situation who tend to be very apprehensive about spending money later in life, I enjoy spending now that I have money, and I have a too-cavalier attitude about not having enough (mainly because I know I can deal with not having enough if need be, not that I particularly enjoy it). However, I also realize the value of living within one’s means, and of saving and investing as well. And while I make a good living now, I’ve overspent far past my own comfortable limit lately, plus I’m paying off medical bills, and I need a new pair of glasses (not cheap, even with my insurance). It’s time to be responsible and pay down my debt/build up some savings. *sigh* Boring, but necessary.

To that end, I’ve found a new budgeting/finance software – Moneydance – that is somewhat more sophisticated than what I’ve been using (but not too much), and will allow me to do my weekly balancing a bit easier, but also to get a good snapshot of all my debt and our investments in the same spot. While I’d rather not see all my debt in one spot (depressing!), I need to. Knowing it’s there and having to look at those balances every week is motivating to me to get it paid down. So, much like doing a weekly balance/budget was motivating to me as far as getting a handle on my finances, this is the next step.

3. Write a minimum of 50 fiction words per day.
Fifty words is only a good paragraph or two, but it’s the daily practice and repetition I’m going for here. For the past several years, I’ve had a hard time with longer fiction, because I often don’t have the mental capacity for it after working all day (the hazards of a job that requires a lot of troubleshooting and puzzle-solving). So I decided that this year, I’m going to focus on short form fiction. Fiction of a length that can fit on bookmarks and inside cards. And if I happen to get some work done on my longer drafts too, that will be great, but short is my focus for the year.

So far, I’ve written at least 50 words every weekday (though not the weekends yet – I’m still working on scheduling that), and most days, over a hundred words once I get going. I’ve got three micro-stories written and waiting to be put in cards, and another good start that may well end up as an actual story with a bit of editing.

This writing resolution goes with one of my lesser “goals” this year, which is to create cards and bookmarks for sending/selling. I’m still waiting on a bit of equipment to come in for that, but I’m excited, because I’ve wanted to get back into paper crafting for awhile now, and using it as a publication outlet for my micro-fiction is the perfect way to do that. Limited edition cards and stories – it feels like a nice artisan way to continue writing and publishing. I hope to have the first cards done by the end of the month.

So those are my big three resolutions for the year. If I can accomplish these, and hopefully some of my lesser goals as well, it really will be a year of creativity, art, and growth. I can’t really think of anything that would be better!

Do you have any specific goals to work toward this year? Or are you just going to wait and see what happens?

Either way, I hope your year is off to as good a start as mine, and that it will be a year of health, growth, and prosperity for us all!

Recommendation
I came across this video on YouTube last weekend, and while I’ve been doing artistic things for as long as I can remember, I found this interesting and relevant to this year’s creative goals. Check it out if you have some time, and let me know what you think:

That’s it for this week! If you have a favorite thing to share, or want to recommend a book, TV show, video or podcast, comment below, email me at jamie@jamiedebree.com, or catch up with me on Facebook or Instagram.

Jamie DeBree

Writer | DBA | Dog Wrangler