Do You Have Goals? The Call to Adventure.

It's today! It's today! Update Day!

You have no idea how impatiently I've been counting down to this. I haven't blogged in so looooooooong. I've been itching to get back into the swing of it and the Got Goals blog hot seems like the best place to start.

If you don't know what the Got Goals bloghop is it is an ingenious blog hop hosted by the lovely Misha Gericke, author of  Twisted Earths, Mayhem in the Air,, Ghosts of Fire, and  Endless and Jen Garrett. Once a month writers with goals post about how they are proceeding with said goals. It's a beautiful opportunity to share with and encourage one another as we plunge down the long and winding road of writerdom together.

Check out THIS LINK if you are interested in joining.

And if you're already a part of it, thank you so much for letting me join in the fun. For being willing to share your stories and for listening to mine. I am truly honored to be here. 

My ultimate goal is to make a living off of my writing. (For me that would be around $40,000 a year). For now, however, I'm totally willing to take baby steps and enjoy the journey. 

Because if I'm not enjoying my writing, why am I doing it at all?

2018 Goals 

• Reconnect with myself. Feed my soul. Find my drive.

This is the most important one for me. It's not just a personal goal. It's the groundwork I need to lay before I can achieve anything else. Ultimately this translates into how much passion and motivation I have to spend on the things (and people) that I love.

These are the concrete ways I will work on this goal for February:

---- Mindfulness. Weekly visits to the monastery (Ongoing)

---- Gratitude journal (Ongoing)

----Improv class (Complete-able. I intend to take a total of four classes (seven weeks each)

 throughout the year)

---- Progressive Relaxation (Complete-able. I want to do this every day for three months)

---- Physical therapy exercises (Complete-able. I want to do this every day for three months)

----- Yoga (Ongoing.)

-----Meditation (Ongoing.)

----Go for walks, specifically on my break at work (Ongoing.)

---- 50/50 vegetable/ not vegetable ratio (Complete-able. When I've done this every day for three weeks I will move on to my next dietary goal)

--- Keep house clean (Ongoing)

---Write in my dream journal  (Ongoing)

• Find True Love. Because it exists.

This is a an embarrassing one to admit. No one wants shout "Hey, no one loves me but I really wish they would!". It wreaks of neediness and desperation, and isn't my generation of women supposed to be strong and independent and not need things like romance? Shouldn't I be wise enough to be happy alone? Shouldn't it "just happen" when I'm minding my own business and not looking for it?

Regardless of what should or should not be, my desire to find a partner in life is strong. While this is a purely personal goal, I have found that when I try to suppress a desire it drains energy from my other goals. Much like staying grounded and centered, making time for this goal will strengthen my ability to achieve my writing goals.

These are the ways in which I will seek love: 

--- Look for and appreciate evidence of love around me

---- Spend quality time with those who value me

That isn't to say there won't be dating apps and awkward conversations with strangers in my future but I want to keep Rumi's words in mind as I strive toward true love.

“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”

--Jalaluddin Mevlana Rumi 

• Finish writing and publish NIGHT BRIARS

There it is. The actual writing goal. I'm super excited about the manuscript for NIGHT BRIARS so far. It's a little unconventional as far as sequels go but it's coming out great. (And dark. Oh, so dark.) I do need to speed up my progress a little though if I want it to be ready by the end of the year.

Specific tasks for February to move me towards this goal are:

--- Carve out time to write. Six hours a week. My production schedule says that the first draft needs to be typed (It's mostly in hand written at the moment) by the end of February. 

---Read at poetry readings (Marketing). I'm going to attend four before next update day

--- Post poetry and writing updates (Marketing) I'll give myself the goal of fourteen writer related posts before next update day.

---Participate in Do You Have Goals bloghop (Networking) This is to say I will actually return next month. Yay! I know I faded out of existence without an explanation last time I joined you all. I apologize for that. It won't happen this time.

---Organize and attend one Crit Group (Networking)

They're baby steps, I know, but it's important that I don't get overwhelmed or I'm likely to give up all together. Slow and steady. The finish line doesn't have to be tomorrow.