Wednesday, January 02, 2008

I Resolve...

by Annette Dashofy

Ah, January second. The partying of New Year’s Eve is over. Hopefully, we’ve all recovered from our hangovers. Maybe the Christmas decorations have been put away. Maybe not. It’s time to put the holidays to bed and get on with life.

How many of your resolutions have you broken yet?

I love New Year’s Day. It’s a day of infinite promise. It’s a clean slate, a day full of hope. And, yes, a few resolutions, although I prefer to think of them as goals. It’s that one day when the future spans in front of us with the possibility of all of our dreams coming true.

And then along comes the other 364 days. Oops, make that 365 days. This is a leap year. Reality sets in. We rediscover that meeting those goals takes work. LOTS of work.

But what the heck. Let’s go for it.

I will confess right here to all of you that I did not meet my goals for last year. Well, I guess, maybe I did in a sense. My big writing goal last year was to make money on my writing. And I did. Sort of. I made $60. Part of it was payment for a short story I sold the year before, but only received compensation for it in January of 2007. The rest is prepayment for an article I have yet to write. Good thing I still have the yoga teaching gig.

The big problem was I didn’t succeed in following the path I had mapped out a year ago which was intended to lead me toward that goal of making money on my writing. My intension was to write one new piece each month and submit one piece (either a new one or resubmitting one which had been previously rejected) each month. I researched markets and had a whole plan laid out.

Then life got in the way. I didn’t get anything sent out in January. So I figured I’d double up and submit TWO pieces in February. I think I managed that. Then, it all went to Hell in March. I won’t tell you how many new pieces I wrote or how many I submitted throughout the rest of the year. Too depressing. But, hey, I finished my novel manuscript and got it sent off to my agent. I don’t want to sound as though I didn’t accomplish ANYTHING last year.

Still, I think the general idea for last year’s writing goals were good. So I’m going to stick with them. Here goes:

My goal/resolution for 2008 is to make MORE than $60 on my writing. I will do this by writing one new piece, be it short fiction or article or essay, each month. I will submit AT LEAST one piece each month. I realize I have no control over whether those stories get accepted or rejected, but I certainly won’t make any money if I don’t write/submit/write/submit. I also intend on starting a new novel in the next week or two.

I am, however, hedging my bets. I plan to teach one or two more yoga classes a week beginning in March and I intend on holding a yoga workshop in February. For the time being, I still need my yoga income to support my writing. But I’m working on it.

I also resolve to eat better and work out more to reach my goal of getting back into my skinny jeans.

That’s also a repeat from last year. And the year before…

12 comments:

Joyce Tremel said...

I don't think I'll ever make it to the skinny jeans. I'll settle for the medium ones.

My only goal is to write my next book. That's tough enough for me.

Anonymous said...

This year, I decided not to be specific with resolutions. Instead, I set four general category goals, which are (in alphabetical order) exercise, fun, house, and write. So yesterday I met three of them for sure -- I did yoga, did some cleaning of the house, and wrote a review of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (the movie) at amazon.com. No major amount of fun yet, but there's always today.

Anonymous said...

My goal is to take the 20-30 minutes I spend playing computer solitaire each morning doing yoga, instead. Then I hope to walk or use my cross-country ski machine for another 20-30 minutes at lunch or after work. My hope is that this will, one day, allow me to fit into some pair of jeans without an elastic waist.

I went to a two hour vigorous two-hour "detox and deepen" yoga workshop yesterday. Except it didn't stop at two hours, more like at least 2.5 hours. About the time I thought we were headed into deep relaxation, we were led through Warrior III about 6 times on each leg. Youza!

Anyway, after I definitely felt detoxed and virtuous. Then I went to the movies and retoxed on butter-soaked popcorn. Not as virtuous, but definitely fit into the "fun" category. Who knows when I'll have time to see another movie this year?

Martha Reed said...

Annette, you're right. The start of a new year is a good time to reassess goals - I like to call them projects; that way, if I don't meet them, I don't feel so badly!

One project left over from last year - finish my mss, and it's well on its way, finished Chapter 6 on Saturday. I'm planning on having a completed mss for the PennWriters conference - wish me luck.

Speaking of which, I'd better get to work. Have a great day.

Annette said...

Tory, I went to a movie the other day and completely skipped the popcorn. I was sooo proud of myself that I celebrated by eating a bunch of chocolate truffles when I got home.

I did do my half hour weight-training regimen this morning, so I'm doing good on that one. And I'm out of truffles, so I can't fall off the wagon that way today. Unless I go to the store which is a definite possibilty...

Joyce, they aren't really SKINNY jeans. Just a pair that I really like, but can only manage to squeeze into about one day a year, after intense workouts and lots of salads. But then I go back to my truffle celebration for what I've accomplished and that's that for another year.

Gina, your goals are commendable. Fun is always a good thing.

Working Stiffs said...

Forget the skinny jeans. I just want to fit into last year's jeans again!!
Nancy

Anonymous said...

I never owned a pair of skinny jeans, so that's out. My big goal this year is to lose the baby fat! (I can no longer use the excuse that I'm pregnant--sigh.)My second goal...finish my manuscript before the NEXT New Year rolls around.

Anonymous said...

Oh Annette! We all feel your pain! I set goals for myself three years ago. My 35th b-day is the dealine. That's in a few days and I haven't met ANY of them. You only gave yourself a year! We all support your 2008 agenda!

Anonymous said...

I met my 2007 goal - to reach 2008. Now, if I can just accomplish the next one...

Anonymous said...

Tory -
Don't give up that mroning computer solitaire too quickly! I do that too (although I prefer to play Free Cell, Minesweeper, Spider Solitaire, and Golf). I find these games get my mind into the patterns it needs to function in the work world, so I consider them a form of mental exercise.

Annette said...

Hey, Lee, that sounds like the kind of resolution/goal I should stick with.

Good luck with getting that manuscript done for the conference, Martha. You go, girl!

And Happy Birthday, Brenda!

Felicia Donovan said...

For me, the whole List and Resolution thing is like writing a synopsis or an outline - way too confining.

Do you think the folks on the Titanic said, "Gee, we're so glad we passed up that desert tray so we can lose another pound?" I think not.

I've far surpassed my writing expectations in 2007 and 2008 is looking pretty darn good, too. I'll stick with that as an accomplishment, but resolutions? I resolve not to make them!

Felicia Donovan
THE BLACK WIDOW AGENCY
www.blackwidowagency.com