I never make resolutions for a new year because I know they’ll fall by the wayside very quickly. It’s the same way with to-do lists and schedules. The best I can do is set up a tentative guideline for future action, knowing that it will change over time, or even be forgotten, either entirely or in part. The guideline is meant to be a reminder more than anything else. There are projects that I would very much like to start, or finish, or at least see make some progress, and putting them down in a concrete form contributes to the possibility that I might actually reach some of my goals.
Here at the end of 2012 is a rough idea of how I want to spend the next year.
~~Concentrate on nonfiction — Complete as many fiction WIPs as possible, but don’t start any new ones.
~~Develop the first few ebooks of the Maverick Writer series to completion and publication.
~~Develop and write as many Squidoo lenses as possible, both for income and as part of writer’s platform.
~~Publish on Kobo Writing Life.
~~Work on book cover design
Shakti Ghosal
/ December 13, 2012Your situation relating to New Year resolutions would resonate with so many others. But the one word that jumps out at me from your post is “Tentative”. If this tentativeness remains as the underlying belief in our scheme of things, then of course we are guaranteeing our lack of reaching goals and non-success. My questions to you therefore are, “How could you view your resolutions that they show up as stuff that is achieveable? What could you do that would make the path to your resolutions enjoyable and fun to tread?”
Cheers
Shakti
Catana
/ December 13, 2012For some people, “tentative” is certainly a guarantee that they won’t reach their goals. It doesn’t work that way for me. First, those goals aren’t hard and fast destinations that I *have* to reach. I’m not worried about whether the goals are achievable. They are. But I might find something more important that will put them in second place. Which leads to my preference for flexibility rather than rigidity. I shift gears a lot, so I don’t have much use for plans that are set in concrete. As for “enjoyable,” I’m self-indulgent enough to avoid anything that isn’t enjoyable unless it’s something that absolutely must be done. If it’s creative, it’s more or less automatically enjoyable, even if it involves hard, even gruelling, work. Fun? I never think in terms of fun, which has always seemed a rather shallow goal. I don’t mean that to be a personal criticism, but our society seems to rank everything in terms of how much fun it provides, as if fun is a goal in and of itself.
Additional note: Another reason for “tentative” is that I might have second thoughts about a proposed project. Maybe I realize that it won’t have the results I hoped for, or that it simply isn’t worth my time, for any number of reasons.
Danielle de Valera
/ December 13, 2012I’m with you, Catana: plans are great and guidelines are lovely – but resolutions imply (to me) that there’s something wrong in my life, at the moment, that I need to fix.
And flexibility is above rubies.
Thomas Cotterill
/ December 16, 2012I taught myself to make simple ebook covers earlier this year, but I would love to see what you accomplish in this direction, Catana. Any and all applications, websites, tips, etc. would be most welcome! You have a knack for unearthing marvellous stuff.
Catana
/ December 16, 2012I have tons of resources I’ve found, and I do plan to share them. Dedicated apps, of course, are for the Mac, but online apps work for any platform. There’s lots of interesting stuff out there.