Where I've been and where I'm going

2018 was not a good year for me as a writer. I published nothing. That was never my intent, but that’s what happened.

I did work on a couple of manuscripts, but I got stuck on one and never really got unstuck. I thought the manuscript was crap and never really got over that feeling. Over the years, I’ve learned the best way to get over that feeling is to actually work on the manuscript and let the magic happen, but my motivation to do that went on sabbatical, and never came back.

I wish I knew why. I’m sitting here trying to figure it out, so I can type something profound to make both you and me understand, but I got nothing. It pains me a lot to say, but I got nothing.

However, as much as people poo-poo the idea of New Year and resolutions (you can start anytime, you don’t have to wait for a manmade point in time blah blah blah blah), the start of the calendar year does offer me a chance to start anew at a specified time that makes sense to my practical mind.

And I am more than ready and willing to take it.

This year, I will be using Powersheets to help me reach my goals. The one-page tending list REALLY appealed to me. One page to see what’s important to me for that month. It’s focused and clear.

Powersheets 2019 - I chose the yellow cover because it’s so joyful, and I need joy in my life.

My January 2019 tending list. Go, Jamie, go! - sung in the style of the Inspector Gadget theme song

The hand sticker at the top says “Reach for your dreams.”

The creator of the Powersheets, Lara Casey, is fond of the saying “Progress, not perfection.” You will never know how much that saying speaks to me. It was exactly what I needed to hear.

You see, when I set deadlines and miss them, that gives me permission to beat myself up. And in 2018, I was constantly black and blue.

So my word for this year is Progress.

As in “Make progress. Progress forward. Progress, not perfection.”

I may not get things done as quickly as I would like, but as long as I’m doing something, i.e. making progress, I’m on the right track. Little by little it will get done. Celebrate the steps, even the teeny tiny ones, rather than be upset that I haven’t completed the journey by the (mostly arbitrary) deadline I gave myself.

In other words, better to celebrate writing 500 words than be mad I didn’t write 2000 like I wanted. Those 500 words are getting me closer to the end, which means I will publish something in 2019. Hip hip hooray!

Progress, not perfection.

P.S. Other goals:

This year, I want to read more. I will read more. I love reading. It fills my creativity well like no other. In 2018, I only read 19 books. That’s terrible. Now that I’m a writer (with a full-time day job), I don’t have as much time to read as I did when my solo romance identity was reader. Still, 19 books is pathetic. I can do better than that. My goal is to read one book per week.

P.S. I also plan to get back to blogging. Sports, pop culture, writing, goals. We’ll see how it goes. This was the first step. Progress, not perfection.