I struggle with keeping resolutions.
I know I can’t be alone in this. My writing group had a discussion about this recently. We were asked to share our writing-related goals for the group. One of our members shared her thoughts on goal setting, and mentioned that she doesn’t like “resolutions”. When I asked about why, we got into a discussion (that I’m still not entirely following) about how to properly set goals as opposed to resolution, and the right way to do it.
From what I understand, resolutions alone don’t set you up for success. You should be looking to not just say “I’m going to do things”, but setting the intention as well. Examining your reasons behind your resolutions to get to the true reason you want to do something will help you not just check a box, but achieve the right goal for yourself. For instance: Do you want to lose weight, or should you step back and examine your overall health and well-being instead of killing yourself over a number? You can lose weight if you want, but getting to the root of “why” is going to be healthier, and kinder. We also dove into ways on how to change our outlook. Phrasing goals in a positive manner is supposed to help you not set yourself up to fail.
So here’s my attempt to do 2021 right. I sat down and thought about what I want to do for next year. I thought about what I want to achieve, and the reasons behind them. I tried to be realistic with my goal-setting this time, and tried to pick things that wouldn’t burn me out.. We’ll chat in December and see how it went!
Write for 30 minutes a day (minimum)
This is a very important one, since I want to transition into writing. Sometimes, days get hard, and I end up not writing at all. I need to crack down and fix that. 30 minutes minimum. If I have a bad day, 30 minutes is still an achievable number.
I’m doing time limits instead of word count, because I have found that when I’m aiming for words, my quality drops massively. I have small word goals on my writing Discord server, so I’ll still have something to try for, but I’d rather focus on writing well right now.
Get 100 Blog followers.
I didn’t want to set up a goal of writing X days a week for this blog. Life happens. I have a regular job, sometimes I have life stress that just knocks me out. Setting a follower goal will encourage me to post and update regularly, without me stressing over “oh no, I didn’t post today! I FAILED!”
Get 200 Twitter followers
I still don’t quite get Twitter, but it seems to be essential to building an audience and eventually getting a mailing list. I’ll figure it out.
Launch my Web Serial
I have a story in my back pocket that I finally started working on for my writers group! The first chapter went over well. I’d like to write some more, and start posting it here. This one seems pretty obtainable. I won’t set a date goal for this, as I’d like to have more chapters set up first, but before December 2021 for sure!
Outline Soulless, Book 1
Soulless is my BABY. I have had that idea for years. However, I’m hesitant to rush into writing it. I know that oftentimes, people’s first books aren’t their best. I know my writing skills need work still. I don’t want Soulless to be my trash book. I’m going to wait on continuing with it, but I would like to outline it this year. This way, I can have my writers group examine it and help me get started on the correct path. Don’t worry, Nadia, I’ll get your story told! Properly.
Read a book a month
A good way to improve your writing is to read more! I think reading a book a month is a reasonable, obtainable goal that won’t stress me out. Ideally, I’d like to read MORE, but baby steps.
Move more
I have a lot of self-esteem issues, and lately my body is on my mind. We are not going to get into that here, I usually leave that for my therapist! But I would like to be healthier in 2021.
I’ve decided not to say I need to lose weight. I think that’s going to hurt me more than help me. However, I do think it would be good for me to move more. Working from home really cut out most of my normal physical activities, so I should fix that! My therapist thinks it will help my depression, and I think it will be good for my overall health. My father had blood clots and major surgery a while back, and they don’t know if it’s hereditary. Doing more exercise will help that. We are already working on eating healthier, so I have that covered! My boyfriend purchased some VR dance games for me for Christmas, so playing those, RingFit, walking, and biking when the weather improves will help me.
My goal is to do movement activities 4 days a week.
Reach B1 Level in French.
I honestly regret not taking French in university, but in my defense I had no idea I’d be moving to Quebec. It’s really embarrassing for me how much I struggle with speaking in French. I recently attended the holiday party for my office via Zoom, and had no idea what was happening- everyone was speaking French. I ended up leaving quietly. It was SO awkward.
This year I’d like to change that. Usually I say “learn French”, which is vague. How much??
I picked level B1. The description says “If you are B1 level, this means that you are no longer a beginner. You know enough to be able to build more complex sentences in order to communicate. However, you are not fluent and not quite able to engage in a conversation with current affair topics for example.” That sounds like the perfect place for me to be, and a solid goal to work for.
Stress less over work.
This one makes me laugh honestly. I’m just a ball of stress. Well, I need to just…focus. I got hired for this job. Permanently. They saw something. I need to stop panicking. I got this job, fair and square.
I’m going to achieve this by just…remembering to communicate. It’s okay to ask questions. It’s okay to get notes. They don’t expect me to be PERFECT. I’m not a senior. They know this. I know this. Freaking out is not going to be good. It’s going to be okay, Future D.M. Breathe.
I feel like this year might be different. Wait, phrase that positively, DM. This year is going to be better. Knock wood. Happy New Year, everyone!
Zoey Delmaire Writes 