2018 Goals

*climbs out of pile of blankets and reaches for hot chocolate* IT’S SO COLD, Y’ALL.

Anywaaaay...

I started 2017 with a check-in post for the previous year’s goals, and thought that would be a fun way to kick off 2018 on the blog too.

In a lot of ways, 2017 was a year that required stepping out of my comfort zone. Some of my goals were left unfinished, which is disappointing, but overall the year was full of lessons learned and some really great memories!

2017 GOALS

Bible-reading (358/365 days): I started by tracking this with my daily to-do lists in my planner, which was helpful. When I switched to my current planner, I made a habit tracker each month where I could mark the days I met this goal. It really helped me remember to make time in my day for this.

Publish The Assassin’s Daughter: THIS HAPPENED AND EVEN THOUGH IT’S BEEN ALMOST A YEAR I AM STILL EXCITED.

Write two first drafts

  A Happy Mess (short story)

  An Occasion for Laughter (novella)

  The Drowning of Sasha Ethandrix (novella)

  Spinner & Kidd  (novel)

Finish two revisions:

    An Occasion for Laughter (one revision)

    TAD2 (one full revision + two partial revisions)

Read 100 books: I tracked what I read with Goodreads this year. According to that I’ve read 111, but some of those were short stories while others were parts of bundles, so the actual count of books is a little different.

Participate in both Camp NaNo sessions and NaNoWriMo: This one is complete, and is what resulted in some of the revision progress for TAD2, as well as the first drafts of Sasha Ethandrix and Spinner & Kidd.

Journal every day for a week: It took me until December to actually accomplish this one, but it happened!

Crochet something: Incomplete. I never really did give this much focus like I’d wanted to, sadly.

Lose 30 pounds: I did not meet this goal. I did lose some weight though and worked to develop better habits for losing weight and keeping it off.

2018 GOALS

Read Bible (360/365): Like in 2017, I plan to track this with a habit tracker, and I’m going to try to mark down the passages I read each day. I’d also like to improve my studying habits.

Develop/stick to a consistent exercise plan: I wanted to make this year’s goals less about meeting a number on the scale and more about consistency and focusing on developing better habits now that I know some of the things that work for me.

Fill a journal: I’ve been using my current journal since 2016 and it’s almost full. I’d like to fill a new one in 2018, and I’m thinking I may even try a couple of journaling challenges.

Read 50 books: I don’t have a huge TBR, and I figured a smaller goal this year would be a good way (hopefully) not to hit a reading slump.

Embroider a tree skirt: I really want to get back into some hobbies that I used to invest in. Embroidery is one of those, and I want to finish a big project this year.

Publish TAD2: It’s happening.

Finish two first drafts: I don’t have a set plan for the projects I hope to draft yet.

Finish two revisions: TAD2 is on this list, and I’m also looking at a few projects that really need second drafts…

Blog three times each month: I’d like to write more than that, but three is the minimum I want to post each month.

Improve marketing plans/skills: Pretty sure I’m the world’s worst when it comes to marketing. It’s just so hard to do without feeling weird! But possible things on the list include an author newsletter and more consistency in posting, so we’ll see how this goes!

Do you make any goals or resolutions for the new year? What are you most looking forward to in 2018?