So this year has been bad, right? It’s not just me? Kidnapping citizens from parks, locking up children and sending them to random countries, gutting social services, the continuing genocide in Gaza… also I haven’t been able to find full time work since 2023 (and trust me, it’s not for lack of applying to 10+ jobs a day!!!) and even managed to get laid off from my PART TIME SEASONAL job last month. It just felt necessary to level set because my January expectations of this year were… adorably optimistic.
Creative/Writing Goals
- Grow Forced Proximity to 300 subscribers- COMPLETE
- Polish first full draft of Headwaters, start to query by end of March 2025- COMPLETE
- Break even with Rehabbing The Billionaire – lol
- I mean technically I guess this is in progress but I have been barely focusing on this book at all in the face of….. other priorities…. like the financial ones further down this list
- Write at least 1 new complete draft of a new project, either for RoWritMo ‘25 or otherwise- IN PROGRESS
- I’m 31k words into an alien abduction romance because that’s my most recent subgenre hyperfixation. lol
- By end of year, decide if I’m going to continue the query route or go whole hog into indie publishing
- July update: So here’s the thing. Whole hog into indie publishing requires money. While I’ll keep querying, fruitlessly it seems, because it’s free and why not, it’s also no longer quite as simple as making the decision. Even if I do most of the stuff myself and decide to not pay for ANY marketing (which is a bad move from the research I’ve done, but putting that aside), I still will need to pay for things like a cover design, and that’s not cheap! So decision made or no, I likely won’t be able to do much until late 2026 if at all.
Health Goals
- Stretch every morning- IN PROGRESS/FAILED
- I did this faithfully for like three months and then got depressed and stopped. I endeavor to do better, but I guess officially I’ve failed?
- Walk 3x weekly- IN PROGRESS/FAILED
- So I’ve definitely walked exponentially more this year than before! And when I’m in Colorado (where I’ll be long-term until early 2026 starting in September) I walk almost every day because of the dog. But definitely week to week isn’t quite as consistent as I’d planned.
- Order in less than 2x a week- IN PROGRESS/COMPLETE SO FAR
- It’s funny how having no money breaks you of expensive and unhealthy habits! I can’t even pay for music or the scant few Patreon subscriptions I have right now, so there’s no way I can afford to order in even once a week! But hey, that’s still a win!!
- Develop better breakfast/lunch habits- IN PROGRESS/COMPLETE SO FAR
- The benefit of cooking more and ordering in less is that we usually have leftovers now, and I can’t just get lazy, so I definitely have gotten better about this through necessity. And wouldn’t you know, I DO feel better! Hmmmmm
Personal Goals
- Do more activities with my husband- IN PROGRESS
- Money being tight is definitely putting a bit of a drag on this, but we’ve also been more intentional about doing activities together and not simply near each other. Taking a longer walk to the independent cafe rather than the Starbucks across the street to write together and have breakfast, playing Baldur’s Gate together, taking walks and drives, hosting friends and family. This might sound crazy, but I love my husband and hanging out with him and am very lucky to have him as a partner. Gross. Moving on.
- Read 300 books- IN PROGRESS
- Current read count: 265
- Turns out being depressed and unemployed gives you a lot of time to wallow and read books!
- Go out with friends or family once a week, or invite people over if that’s the best option- IN PROGRESS
- Once a week was possibly the most ambitious way to have phrased this, but I have done my best to see people more often, and it’s been lovely, especially as I plan to leave LA!
- Declutter my possessions– IN PROGRESS/COMPLETE SO FAR
- We’ve officially started this physical process in anticipation for moving. I’ve got a spreadsheet and everything!
Professional/Financial Goals
- Make rent with freelancing work- IN PROGRESS
- Well considering we won’t have to PAY rent as of October…. I haven’t had to ask for money from anyone and have been able to faithfully pay my half in rent (barely) until then…. but that’s mostly because of my pre-layoff CBS gig, which I guess is technically freelancing but that’s not quite the spirit of the law. So I have a lower goal overall due to not anticipating paying rent in Q4, but I’m still a way off
- Be able to ADD to my savings account again rather than just removing from it- HAHAHAHA
- In tHIS economy? Hopefully October’s loss of rent and utilities expenses will help, but… I’m not holding my breath. Not that there’s much to remove from my savings anymore… [nervous sweating smiling emoji]
- Lead 10 workshops, solo or with partners- COMPLETE
- This one I’ve actually blown past, which is heartening! Most of these gigs weren’t paid, alas, but they all netted me new opportunities to get in front of potential freelancing clients, and I’ve got quite a few already scheduled for the rest of the year as well. So that’s something. I’m in demand, even if I’m not making rent. Somehow one’s got to influence the other, surely.
What about you? How are your resolutions for the year going?
