I’m back after a wonderful week of family, food and relaxation! I hope all of you had a joyful holiday and are ready to get back to the business of real life. I can hear some of you groaning over that thought, but personally, I love the end of a vacation. If I’ve committed to relaxing completely (and yes, that’s something I have to commit to) I find myself refreshed and ready to take on new projects, create new habits, and revamp old routines.
I’m especially excited about the beginning of 2014. Despite the usual bumps in the road, 2013 was a fantastic year for me. I accomplished a lot on the writing front; I learned how to work from home and how to make my home work more efficiently; I nurtured relationships with family and friends; and most of all, I grew into motherhood, which has added depth to my character as well as joy to my life. I’m hopeful that in 2014, my life and the lives of my family, friends and readers will be similarly enriched and blessed.
I’ll be writing about my resolutions and goals for 2014 later this week, but today I’d like report on how I did with my 2013 resolutions. I encourage you to do the same, whether that indicates a few pats on the back, or motivation to try again next year. (For tips on creating resolutions that stick, see Resolution Aid.)
2013 Resolutions:
1. Go through several drafts of my novel by editing/writing while my son is nursing or sleeping; show it to peer editors; sign up for mentorship program at Gotham Writer’s Workshop; start process to publication. My dream is to be a published author in 2013!
How I did: I wrote 8 more drafts of the novel and began sending it off to agents. I got published in a few places. I signed up for book doctoring with Gotham, and though I’m not sure the experience was worth the large amount of money, it did result in a better draft of the novel. Peer editing has also gone well, and I’ve even had a few published authors review the book as a personal favor.
I hadn’t included it as a resolution, because the project didn’t get started until February, but I’ve also been working on a children’s book series with my friend Cristen. We’re currently working on book two of the series and looking for potential publishers. It’s about children learning to play instruments for the first time, and we’re both really excited about its potential for music teachers, parents and children on the fence about learning an instrument.
2. Experiment with magazine writing by composing 5 query letters per month of varying topics and sending each to 4-5 periodicals with varying circulations.
How I did: I didn’t reach that level of querying. As I said, I did get published in a few places, including a magazine, and I submitted pieces to a few more places that I’m waiting to hear from. I feel like I started the ball rolling, and now have a good idea where I want to focus my efforts. I also re-submitted a short story I wrote a few years ago to several more literary magazines. So far I haven’t had any luck, but I’m going to keep trying because I think it’s a unique piece that may just be harder to place.
3. Maintain current schedule of exercising (4-5 times per week) and blogging (about 7 times per month).
How I did: I started keeping track of exercise minutes (180-250 per week) instead of days, and that encouraged me to work out even more. As for blogging, I left that “7 times per month” goal in the dust. I now blog 3-4 times per week (not counting vacation time) and I even published a blog series in November that got good ratings. I also increased my readership by leaps and bounds, though I don’t have my numbers from last December to compare. This was partly due to joining more social media sites and connecting with other bloggers/writers I admire. The biggest advancement was setting up this self-hosted website all by myself and transferring everything over from Blogger. (I’m NOT technologically savvy, so I’m very proud of that.) 2013 was a big year for Words From The Sowul.
4. Help my husband and me eat healthier by cutting up salad vegetables every Sunday for easy salad making, mixing and packaging trail mix, and baking healthy breakfast bars.
How I did: Done every week, thanks to my iCal reminders! It really does help to have easily accessible chopped vegetables and healthy snacks on hand. Both of us are eating healthier, and we both lost weight in 2013. (I lost all my pregnancy weight by July!)
5. Learn how to make 10-12 cheap, easy, healthy dinners that we both enjoy.
How I did: Done! I feel much more confident as a cook, especially with the slow cooker. My husband also added several more delicious meals to his repertoire. I’m so lucky to be married to someone who asks for chef’s knives for Christmas.
6. Take better care of my teeth by flossing and using fluoride rinse every night. (This will be the hardest to accomplish, as I hate anything to do with teeth!)
How I did: OK. I did floss and use fluoride MOST nights. I tended to slack off toward the end of each week, though. I really hate flossing. But it’s a definite improvement.
How did you do on your resolutions? And if you don’t generally set them for yourself, how did your year go? I was excited by today’s post at the Art of Simple, which poses 20 questions to encourage reflection on the past year. Click over for a free PDF printout.
