How many of you set goals each year? How many of your goals do you achieve?

I set quite a few goals for 2017, and some of them were successful. I hope to be a lot more successful this year by planning out exactly what I need to do to achieve them. I start by categorizing them, and I continue from there.

Last year, I wrote them all down in my writer’s notebook on January 3rd…

Reading

I didn’t have many reading goals last year, but that didn’t stop me from not achieving them…

2017

• read 25 books (ummm… I managed 19…)
• read 1 horror novel (If Shutter Island counts, then I did it!)
• write 2 book reviews (I wrote one… here.)

2018

This year, I hope to do a little better.

• read 25 books (I’ll read 2 books per month, and tack on an extra one during the summer to reach my goal)
  • I’m already one down! I read So B. It by Sarah Weeks.
• read 3 books from genres outside my comfort zone (science-fiction, high fantasy, and horror)
• write 2 book reviews (at least one in the first half of the year, and the other in the last half)

Writing

Writing was by far the easiest for me, which means I surpassed all my goals from last year.

2017

• write 10 poems (I’m not sure why I limited myself in this category since I love poetry, but I managed to write 25 poems and over 80 micropoems on Twitter.)
• create plans for 5 new story ideas (I do this either by brainstorming, free-writing, or plot mapping — I managed 20!)
• finish revising first novel (I did this and started on the third draft.)
• regular writing goals (I keep writing goals with my students, so I create new ones every grading period — most of the time I achieve all my goals.)

2018

This year will hopefully be a big year for me when it comes to writing. I hope to have my first novel ready to query by December, and I want to write a new story every week for #52weeks52stories!

• write 52 stories (I will write a new one each week — most will be flash fiction.)
• finish first novel (I have quite a few more steps before this task is complete, but I’m working on it!)
• plot out my MG novel idea (I would like to draft it, too, but I’m not sure if I’ll be ready for that this year.)
• continue writing goals (I still keep writing goals with my students, but I keep track of them in a Johanna Basford coloring planner!) 
  

  

  

  

Lifestyle

The majority of us have lifestyle goals each new year: “lose weight,” “eat healthier,” and so many more. Our problem is after a week or even a month or two, we lose interest… because it’s not a lifestyle change.

2017

My lifestyle goals last year were simple:

• meal plan every month (that lasted until June)
• plan healthier meals (also lasted until June)
• exercise at least three times a week (I’m not sure when that faded out)
• keep a positivity journal (ooh… I don’t even know where that journal is…)
• fix our budget (did, but stopped working on it in June)

At the end of May, some of my family came in to visit… June was only one month of not sticking to the plan, right? One month soon turned into the rest of the year…

So, how what will I change?

2018

Well, there’s nothing wrong with the goals I had last year. The only problem is not planning better.

• meal plan every month (at the beginning of the last week of each month, we will sit down and plan out the meals for the month on the calendar hanging on our refrigerator — we will make sure to plan for healthier meals)
• exercise… (I dislike exercising, but I bought a bike this past summer. When it warms up outside, I’ll definitely bike at least three times a week, which will require some warm-ups.)
• positivity journal (I can do this. It doesn’t take a lot of time to write down the good things that happen daily.)
• budget (we have already started to re-vamp this… it’s a bit of a process.)
• family outings (we want to take our kiddos on more outings this year, so we’ll need to work on planning for these)

Crafting

My main crafting hobby is crochet, but I’ve branched out due to my goals from last year!

2017

• crochet a temperature blanket (a major undertaking, but so fun!)
  
• crochet a virus poncho (no, it’s not a disease — that’s just the name of the pattern)
  
  
• attempt planned pooling (this is where you get variegated yarn to make a pretty design)
  
• learn a new craft (at the beginning of the year, I had no idea what to choose, but I decided on quilting!)
  

  

2018

Since I have big plans when it comes to writing, crafting will take a little bit of a backseat.

• finish the I Spy quilt (I need the batting, backing, and binding)
• finish the quilt I’m making my husband (it’s a living room quilt — Star Wars themed)
• learn how to crochet a graphghan (this has always looked fun to me, so I want to try!)

Next Steps…

My next step will be to prioritize my goals and add them to my weekly planner. I feel that I can accomplish all that I’ve set out to do this year if I plan properly and persist.

What are your goals this year? What did you accomplish last year? How have your goals changed from year to year? Share with me in the comments!