New Year

When was my last post? Oh yeah, in Octob-..

Oops!

Not surprising I'm sure. Now on to business.

A new year! Which means new opportunities, new adventures and new goals. Yup, I'm jumping on that bandwagon folks! Grumble if you will, cheer me if you must, but I've got me a few resolutions.

Though, I'll call them goals because, well, resolution just seems to have become a negative thing, hasn't it? When you say you have a new year's resolution (or resolutions) no one believes you'll follow through, or at least not for long. I intend to meet my goals, and if possible (and where plausible) exceed them. I'd also like to share them with you, so someone else out there knows.

First off, I want to get healthy (no, I don't mean lose weight, though that'll probably happen, I mean get healthy. Eat right, exercise and all that)

• 40 minutes of cardio 5x/week
• Many much more vegetables, less meat
• No preprepared/junk food (I'm sure I'll have a cheat day now and then)

Also I intend to do more to actively follow my dreams, namely

• Write daily. 2k words Mon-Sat and a blog entry each Sun (we'll get to see each other more often! Isn't that exciting! ... *ahem* Uh, let's ignore that shall we?)
• Actively submit my short stories to lit mags; online and print
• Finish and query at least two novels
• At least start a third
• Read 30 books

I'd really like to become more active in the writing community as well, via social media and in person where possible. I'd love to attend both LTUE and CONduit, though the first probably won't happen. No job, no money and it's in the middle of next month. (Also, find a job, get interviewed, get hired.. but that goes without saying)

Anywho, those are my goals for this year. At least the ones I remember at the moment, which are also the ones I had the presence of mind to write down. Writing them down helps. I'm sure there are more, or will be, but for now these are the things I intend to work on this year.

I hope you all have a great year, that you do something, many somethings. That you take risks, make mistakes and learn and grow and create.

Until next week, enjoy my very favorite new year's wish

I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes.

Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things, trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've never done before, and more importantly, you're Doing Something.

So that's my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes. Make mistakes nobody's ever made before. Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.

Whatever it is you're scared of doing, Do it.

Make your mistakes, next year and forever.

 

-Neil Gaiman

 

http://journal.neilgaiman.com/2011/12/my-new-year-wish.html