My 2020 Goals

Happy New Year!!!

I am not one to make resolutions very often.  And when I do? Well, I don't follow through too well.  I suppose I'm like a lot of people who attempt New Years' resolutions.

Despite my less-than-stellar track record, I really wanted to make some sort of resolution. So Instead of trying to “change myself,” I made concrete goals that I’d like to accomplish this year. I managed to come up with 12 goals for this year, 4 each in 3 categories.  They're not arbitrary ("I want to work out more" or "I want to read more").  They're specific, realistic (I hope), and measurable. I need myself to be held accountable with a way to daily gauge my progress.

So without further ado, here they are!

Writing Goals

Though I’ve always written a little here and there through the years, I am actually quite new to the writing world. Poetry, stories - some I’ve deleted into oblivion forever, some remain tucked away either in notebooks or on a hard drive somewhere - most unfinished, unrefined, unedited, unpolished. This past November’s foray into NaNoWriMo propelled me into a writer again and gave me the drive to get something published. Publishing has always been a dream of mine – anything – to have my name on a book. Poetry or novel, fiction or non-fiction – I don’t care. So to that end, here are my 2020 Writing Goals:

1. Write at least 200 words every day. This is part of the Bestseller Experiment Challenge I signed up for. I like challenges, apparently.
2. Finish revisions & edits on my NaNo story. This would get it ready to publish, IF I can publish it at all. Since it’s fan fiction, it’s not always possible to publish, depending on the legalities of the original publication terms. Even if not, I can still self-publish a few copies for immediate family and friends, or some people publish a chapter a week/month on their blogs/websites. Lots of possibilities for this book!
3. Finish the first draft of my other Work in Progress (WIP). This one I’ve been slowly working on for 3 years now. I keep editing and changing the story as I write. Apparently I work better under pressure, so this one will get the NaNo treatment soon. Maybe an April or July NaNo camp option?
4. Win NaNoWriMo in November (again!). And yes, I already have the idea in my head. I just need to research for it before November rolls around.

Home/Life Goals

Of course, a new year with new goals wouldn’t be complete without something to accomplish in my life or my home. There’s always something to improve upon, but I didn’t want to force something on myself that I didn’t truly believe in doing. And sometimes, simple is better.

1. Finish setting up the house from the move. You’d think after 7 months that I’d have this done. Well, it’s somewhat done, but things are here and there and up and down, and I haven’t even begun to put together the play and art areas downstairs. The kids just basically ransack that area. Ha! So finding homes for the rest of our things, or donating/trashing what we don’t want/need, is on my list this year. It won’t be perfect (ever), but at least I will feel like it’s ready to be lived in properly and not still “living out of boxes.” Which we aren’t anymore, just to be clear, but sometimes it still feels like it.
2. Read 3 fiction books per month. Yeah, this should be easy. :) But I wanted to be sure it was easy to meet my goal. Life happens, as we all know, but 3 means I could read 3 super short ones in a busier month or 2 short and 1 really long novel, or whatever. Right now I’m almost done with North & South by Elizabeth Gaskell. Great classic novel, by the way!
3. Read 1 non-fiction book per month. Why only 1? Usually my non-fiction books are deep and/or a lot of information. I can only handle so much of that at one time, so I read non-fiction a lot more slowly than fiction. I also tend to take a lot of notes while I read non-fiction.
4. Have a family devotion at supper every day. We aren’t the most consistent people on the planet. :) We started to work on this throughout 2019, but we need to get better into the habit. It would also help if we had supper at a regular time every night. Yeah….

School Goals

Since homeschooling is my life, of course I need goals for that, as well. I’ve decided to make these even simpler since, again, I’m not the most consistent person in the world. But my kids deserve to have Mom on top of her game to lead and teach and train them, right? Right. Not to mention, I have a few in public school, and as their school is closing after this fall, we are also researching various plans for all of the kids, whether that be homeschool, public school, private school, online school, charter school, co-ops, or something else. Let me tell you, there are so many options out there nowadays, no one should ever have an excuse to just let their kid fail to thrive in any setting. But I digress. These goals will pertain to only those homeschooling at any time in 2020. Although if I do some in the evenings, then everyone would get the benefit. I just know myself better than that. Consistency, remember?

1. Have a Plan; Stick to the Plan. I tend to knee-jerk react sometimes. I also tend to worry and fret and basically act like a pinball machine. So I’m going to make a plan and STICK TO THE PLAN. No matter what. Unless it really does need to be changed, in which case I will consult my hubby and close friends and a hive mind before I change anything. See? Accountability!
2. Read aloud 1 picture book per day. I’m not a read-aloud person. I wish I were. I have always tried to be, but I’m just not. Why, I do not know. I’ve started digging into that a little bit this past year or so, but I’m not ready to say why with confidence. Also, consistency is not my forte. Despite my aversion to reading aloud, all of my kids LOVE books. Woot! Win for the book-lover!
3. Read aloud 1 chapter of a fiction book per day. Yeah, I really want to try to read aloud more.
4. Read aloud 1 chapter of a non-fiction book per day. For consistency, of course. ;)

So there you have it. My goals for the year 2020!

Now how will hold myself accountable? I’m working on some planner pages to keep up with my goals daily. I’m building my goals into my daily routine. I write between 7 & 8am, for example. The kids wake up on their own and don’t need me to get after them to hurry up until about 8am. I printed out my goal list, which I will hang on the wall by my desk after my toes heal. I broke two the day after Christmas. Fun times around here! And never a dull moment. These goals will be in my face, reminding me and haunting me to keep me on top of things. Well, hopefully not haunting….

And if I fail? Well, it happens. I won’t beat myself up over it. Wife and mother always come first, and all these 2020 goals are second to any of that.

May the year 2020 be a great year for all of us! May God bless us all in this exciting new decade!