2018 Resolutions

It's a new year and as we wash up the champagne glasses, vacuum up the confetti, and resign ourselves to a return to the regular routine, it's time to think about where we want to be when the calendar flips over to 2019.

Even a few years ago, a year felt like a really long time.  But now it seems to vanish faster than I can keep track of.  

It would be easy to post my professional goals for 2018: my plan to pitch at RWA, continuing to build my readership, increase my weekly word count, etc.  Those are all real and valid goals and they will be getting a great deal of my attention over the next 361 days.

But that's not all I want to do.

I want to do something which scares me.  Or rather, something that I've wanted to do for awhile and which I keep talking myself out of because I'm afraid of what other people will think.

I want to treat myself the way I treat other people, celebrating talent and understanding mistakes.

I want to try something without being afraid of getting it wrong.

I want to spend time being comfortable in my own skin and home rather than listing off a bunch of "improvements" that I could make.

And last, but not least, I want to feel the thrill of discovery and possibilities without getting caught up in practicalities and logistics.

(Astute readers will notice that I'm not being specific and that is a deliberate choice.  Because the specific goals are not as important as the attitude change.  But I do have specific ideas for each of these desires, which I think is necessary to separate wishful thinking from achievable results.)

There is a real push for self-improvement right now.  All kinds of ads and promotions about how we can become better people.  But in the end, all of those goals boil down to the same ideas: be kind to yourself, conquer your fear, and find a way to bring a little more happiness into day to day life.

2017 was difficult and personally painful in a lot of ways.  I'm ready to leave it in my rearview mirror.  But it's also left me with a lot of uncertainty and guilt over opportunities missed and mistakes made.  And I've been inside my head for long enough to know that I need to take conscious steps to overcome those negative influences or they will continue to grow and drag behind me.

I'm ready for 2018 to be better.  And I hope that it is full of hope, laughter, and opportunities for all of you as well.  Happy New Year.

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