A while back, I wrote a post about goals I wanted to accomplish in 2013. They were a pretty rough list of things I’d remembered off the top of my head that I’ve been wanting to do, but I never did anything more with it. Today, I decided to reconstruct the list, break it down, add and subtract, and categorize my goals, in hopes they will be more attainable that way.
Reading
1. Last year, I put on Goodreads that I wanted to read 50 books. I didn’t really come close. However, this year, I want to do the same thing +2. I think it’s manageable to read one book a week, as long as I’m not trying to tackle Les Miz. I will probably have to read that one simultaneously with another book, because I know it will take me longer than a week to read it.
2. I would also like to read five books of short stories, five nonfiction works, five books of essays, and five collections of poems. That takes care of 20 books, right there! I already have five nonfiction books in my library, but will have to acquire more poetry, personal essays, and short stories. I came across a collection of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short stories the other day and wanted to buy it so bad, but refrained. I’d already spent a good bit of money on books already.
3. I also want to read every Twook Club book this year. This goal shouldn’t be too hard since Stephany changed it from one book every month, to one book every two months. (I’m not going to make this an official goal, but I would also like to look into joining a book club in my area.)
Writing
4. I’ve talked about wanting to get myself to a point where I’m making a profit from writing freelance. Since that’s not going to happen overnight, my biggest writing goal to start with is to just find as many blogs to guest post on as possible, especially blogs that have more of a magazine layout, as eventually I would like to move my writing into print magazines and literary journals.
5. I’d also like to write one short story a month and write more personal essays, but my focus will mainly be on short stories. The short story is something that has challenged me in the past, because I’m more equipped to plotting storylines for novels, fiction that takes longer to get to the conclusion. I’m determined to produce more short stories and find a method to writing them that works for me.
6. And, speaking of novels, the biggest thing I want to work on this year is my own. In the past, goals such as, write one page a day or ‘x’ amount of words a week, hasn’t worked. This year, I’m going to try taking each week one chapter at a time. That way I don’t have to stretch myself thin working on the book every single day while also trying to work on other writing pieces, blogging, and maintaining my life.
Blogging/Social Media
7. The biggest thing I’ve wanted to do with my blog for a while now has been to move it to self-hosted WordPress. I had planned to do that earlier this year, but something came up (can’t remember what), that made me unable to afford it at the time. Then I moved into my new place, and was trying to get settled there, and it just didn’t work out this year. I’m pretty happy with my makeshift blog design right now, so if I do move over to self-hosted WP, that will be the only thing I do. Getting a redesign will just be an extra expense I can live without right now.
8. I’ve read several articles on blogging that suggest using Sunday’s to get posts written and scheduled for the coming week. That hasn’t really worked out for me lately, but I’m hoping once we move past holiday season that will change. If I can get a week’s worth of blog posts written in one day, that will leave me more time to write, network, and do other things throughout the week.
9. I also want to take social media/blogging breaks periodically throughout the year. I think this could work having posts previously scheduled for a week, and then I can let my blog take care of itself while enjoying some downtime away from the Interwebz.
Life, In General
10. One of the biggest things I want to focus on in 2013 is getting some exercise. I’ve let myself be lazy for years now because of school and work, but I’m ready to get myself into shape again, or at least somewhat into shape again. My friend, Brittany, and I bought 5-time passes to a yoga studio, and I’m really excited about going. Hopefully, after the five classes I’ll be in a place where I can pay to get a membership if I end up liking it.
11. Another big goal for me is to eat healthier. I’ve let myself be slack, especially around the end of this year, but I really want to start doing more cooking and having healthy meals for lunch and dinner. I’d also like to squeeze a small breakfast in there if I can manage to make myself wake up early enough in the mornings, which leads me to my final big goal for 2013…
12. I really want to become a morning person. Not only will becoming a morning person most likely help me later on in life, but being a night owl and not getting enough sleep at night gives me migraines, and I think we all know the consensus on migraines: they suck. If I have a string of nights where I go to bed too late and only get five or six hours of sleep, I will get a migraine the morning of the fourth or fifth day, to be sure. And that is something I want to stop. Not to mention, I’ve read there are a lot of mental and physical health benefits to being a morning person, and it also means I could possibly get in some Morning Pages time before work.
These are in no way ALL of the goals I will probably set for myself this year. I’m planning on making monthly goals surrounding these goals and making new ones each month, as well. I should probably write all this down in some kind of notebook or some program that will help me track all of my goals, so if you know of any good apps or workbooks that will help (I already downloaded Nicole’s free e-book Why Wait?: A Bullshit-Free Guide to Jump Starting Your Goals for the New Year, in case you were about to suggest that). The biggest thing I’m looking to accomplish in 2013 is getting my life organized, hence all the goals, but more on that Wednesday.
What are some goals you’re setting for yourself in 2013?
