First, reflect on last year's accomplishments. What did you get right in 2022? (See Why You Should Ditch Depressing New Year's Resolutions and Do This Instead for further motivation.) Celebrate those successes!
Second, plan shorter term goals instead of heavy-handed resolutions. Quarterly planning works well for me, and based on productivity expert Laura Vanderkam's advice, I focus on three areas: professional, family, and personal. I began this process in 2022 and found that three months is a long enough time to achieve significant goals and habit change. Bonus: it also allows for multiple areas of focus throughout the year, which is satisfying and more adaptible.
Obviously, individual results can vary. But if you find that proclaiming your goals decreases your motivation, try keeping them under wraps.
Every month, the Insecure Writers Support Group hosts a blog hop with an optional question. Special thanks to Alex Cavanaugh and to this month’s co-hosts, Jemima Pett, Debs Carey, Kim Lajevardi, Sarah Foster, Natalie Aguirre, and T. Powell Coltrin. |
Do you have a word of the year? Is there one word that sums up what you need to work on or change in the coming year?
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true.
Alfred Lord Tennyson from "Ring Out, Wild Bells"
ICYMI, if increased creative productivity is one of your goals,
check out my round-up of last year's blog posts.
Here's to ringing in the true!