an honest (and outlined!) inventory of 2014 dreams

Happy first Monday of 2014! I hope that wherever you are, there is at least an illusion of warmth with the help of a friendly space heater or fireplace. It’s 4 degrees here in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and so far this year has brought sickies to 3/3 in my house, a huge spaghetti dinner and game night with my family, and a fine balance of cleaning in the new year, laughter, and relaxation.

Resolutions? I don’t like that word, per se. But here’s what I hope 2014 will look like in my life:

JOY. As you heard in my goodbye to 2013, my One Word for this year is Joy. I’ve always been a pretty happy-go-lucky person, but in 2013, I didn’t feel precisely like myself. So my goal is to pray for joy daily (because we all know who the true Source of joy is), be intentional about choosing thankfulness over stress/bitterness, and to actively seek the bright and lovely in the mundane.

WRITING. My writing goals are simple. (*cough*) Oh boy:

• Finish book 2. Long story short, when I put book 2 down to focus on book 1 for conference, for some reason, I honestly thought I had 50K words written. But I really had 36K and change. So for some reason, 50K has been this huge mental block for me, but I FINALLY HIT IT last night! (Random fact: my 50,000th word was “collided”) I am debating entering book 2 in the Genesis, so my “deadline” is March 15. I’d LOVE to have my first draft finished by the end of January, which would be another 20,000 words. (I add a lot in second drafts!)
• Continue to cultivate my writing friendships. They make my writing better and help me stay sane. Or at least, they help me know that I’m not alone in the insanity.
• Embrace the Unknowns. I don’t know if I’ll be able to attend ACFW conference this year or not. But I will as long as life doesn’t throw any unforeseen curveballs! Aaaaand I’m pretty much setting myself up for one after that, right? I also have no idea if 2014 will bring a contract. While I have no expectations other than doing all I can on my end, it would be pretty earth-shattering!
• Finish Book 3. The story for two characters in Book 1 came to me right after ACFW conference, and I quickly jotted down a rough one-sheet for it and wrote the first three chapters since they were fresh on my mind. I love this story, though!

WORK. You know, the way I fund my writing habit. 🙂

• Continue building freelance work. In 2013, I lost my full-time job, and I’ve been blessed with pretty steady work doing PR/social media consulting and writing webpage copy, the latter of which was brand new and daunting but turns out to be pretty fun! My specific (big, scary) goal is to publish a piece in Relevant. There. I said it.
• Navigate and build my Google+ profile. It’s the way of the future, I’m telling you!

LIFE. Technically this is first in order of importance.

• Remember that LIFE is first in order of importance. Pretty self-explanatory. In the pursuit of dreams, one always needs to keep her priorities in check.
  
• Better time management. Less social media and procrastination. This isn’t some college blow-off class I can spin by the seat of my pants. It’s life. And it’s best done well–or at least as best as I can. I’m the kind of person who walks the fine line between detail-oriented and wing-it because I can’t deal when external variables affect my plans. There’s a balance there somewhere, though. I just know it!
• Better self-care. Drink more water. Eat real foods. Get more sleep. Guard my thoughts. Allow myself to be all girlie and beautiful sometimes 🙂

I didn’t really think about what was going on this list. So this post is directly from my heart to your screen. And now it’s time for less talking and more doing!

Food for thought: What does your ideal 2014 look like in your life? How are you going to actively pursue that?