You know how professional fighters always say, ‘You always have a plan until you get punched in the face’. Well I feel like I got punched in the face this month. My plan was to get my short story written then to move onto the Young Chronicles. This did not happen. I also planned to get my butt up and moving, get my health back on track. This too took a hit.

Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t a complete bust of a month; I did get some words done, just not enough to finish off that short story. You wouldn’t think 10-15k words would be that difficult when I’m normally staring down 75-80k.

I think the biggest thing that caused a little frustration was I had to bite the bullet this month with my phone. I’ve had my iPhone for nine years, that’s right; I have been using an iPhone 5 for the last nine years. And I was happy with it. The plan was to keep it until it no longer worked. The poor thing has been struggling for the last while. I couldn’t play games on it any more, forget keeping music on it, the touch screen was going and sometimes she just didn’t want to start.

So I switched, to a Samsung. Now don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice phone, but it’s HUGE! I feel like I have a tablet in my hand. I used to be able to type with one hand, now I have to double fist it! Nothing works the way I want it, options I had previously don’t exist and did you know that the a20 doesn’t have a slow motion video option?! WTH? Not to mention that it took me three days to figure out why Facebook messenger kept barking at me. Yes, barking, actual dog barking sounds. The first time it went off I couldn’t figure out where the barking was even coming from. Much to my surprise it was my phone!

I had to come to terms with two things, my iPhone was getting ready to say her good-byes and I’m very old and stuck in my ways. I don’t like change!
But I digress. The question now is what now? Outside of still getting used to the tablet phone, that is.

Well, it’s simple really.

Like many people I’m a creature of habit, I like my routines and the one thing that 2020 did for me was destroy the routine I had setup. The crippling depression aside, Hubby was home all the time and because his routine was disrupted it did the same to mine and I have not found my way back.

I had started and petered out of my 100 day challenge. So, I boldly declare this is part of the plan, again. This week I must start rebuilding my routine. Hubby is still home more than at the office and since he works where I work out I will have to learn to love morning workouts again. Beat him to his “office”.

It’s strange really, intellectually and by experience I know that regular workouts for me elevate my mood. It’s not about losing weight (though that is a side effect); it’s about being in a better head space. And Lord knows we all need to be in a positive headspace! So if it’s so beneficial to me, why am I struggling? It all comes back to the fear of failure. So I need to set myself up for success and that’s what I’m hoping these goals will do for me.

My goals for the next couple weeks:

-I will have the short story finished and find some beta’s to read it before finding an editor.

-I strive for ten days of activity. Ten days minimum.

These are doable goals. It’s important to set goals that help you succeed. The more small goals you set and meet leads to accomplishing bigger more complex goals. What are my bigger goals? Writing five books this year and completing a 100 day challenge of activity.

So, baby steps.

Two weeks at a time, one story at a time!

Are you meeting your goals? I would love to hear about it.

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I want to start 2021 out strong!

At least that’s what I said to myself while lying in bed January 1st. We’re in day 12 now and I’m not sure I’ve started out with a bang. More like a little fluff. A silent poof in the wind. BUT, this doesn’t mean that the remaining 353 days can’t be bang worthy!

Let’s start with goals and themes. Goals and themes are better than resolutions in my opinion. Last year my goal was to complete several novels and publish three. I wanted to write a passion project and have it go out at the end of last year. My personal goals were to read more and broaden my horizon with new authors. Sadly, I didn’t reach those goals last year. I did finish two books and published two and I did explore a new author I hadn’t previously read. But overall it wasn’t what I had set out to do.

Now I can spend my time beating myself up over this, and frankly I have. But let’s look at the bigger picture for a moment, 2020 was a dumpster fire. Sure, some people thrived and achieved amazing things in their lives and some did not. I did not. I struggled, 2020 is a year that will go down in my history books as one of the worst of my life.

So I’m going to pick myself up, dust off and attack 2021! Although it hasn’t started out great, I will get there!

Goals and themes, you ask? Okay, my goals for this year are simple, be productive. I’ll be taking this year off from publishing any work. I’m going to concentrate on learning new things about writing and marketing. I will write five books this year including a short story/novella that will be available for subscribers to my newsletter.

This writing goal will be to write for at least one hour a day, every day. Seems simple enough, but when all you want to do is play plants vs zombies on your iPad, it can be hard to get going.

The marketing goal, I’m taking a few courses on learning the platforms I use to sell on to get more visibility to my work. Because let’s face it, if the reader (you) can’t find me, then you won’t know that I’ve written anything. This will also entail an exciting new project! I’ll be creating audio books for my work! Of course though I must first learn how to do that, find a narrator, and someone to edit. Just the little details to work out.

My theme for this year is the same as it always is, “I’m stronger than fear”. It seems simple, but you would be surprised how much fear holds us back. Even from the simplest of things. Fear is the silent killer of dreams and ambitions. I will not let fear win this year!

Lastly, my personal goals. Several days ago I posted on Instagram, day 1/100. I had worked out that day and wanted to mark it down. But that motivation quickly died the next day and I have not done anything since. I’m not certain what it is that keeps holding me back. Weight loss and being active is not a stranger to me. I’ve done both, I’ve succeeded at both.

To be perfectly honest with myself and with you, it’s fear. Fear of failure, fear of not living up to what I’m saying I’m going to do.

Stupid, right? How can I fear to fail if I never start, isn’t not starting failing? That is a good question and point. But I can’t fail if I don’t start so I don’t feed that fear.

This is my constant struggle and fight with myself about everything really. My inner monologue when I’m not meeting my daily goals. Perhaps a secondary theme is in order or just an amendment to the first, “Never let fear win, because I am stronger than fear”!

Yeah, I think I like that.

So a quick recap for 2021.
Goals:
-write for one hour everyday
-write five novels
-learn more about marketing and improving my visibility
 
Themes:
Never let fear win, for I am stronger than fear.
 
What are your goals and themes for 2021?

Follow your Bliss!
Stay Safe, Stay Healthy, Love Always!