I love January like I love the smell of a freshly mopped floor. It’s a clean page on the calendar, an opportunity to restart and refocus. I like to think I’m an “intentional” person. That means I listen to Michael Hyatt’s podcast and try to approach my days with a “Begin with the end in mind” mentality. But sometimes life, and the laundry and swim meets that come with it, derails my intentions. January always assures me that I can try again.
For the past year, I’ve been responding to monthly prompts for the Who I Am Project led by Dana and Bev. I received the final prompt, “Dreams Fulfilled and Wishes for the Future”, at the beginning of December, but it got buried under wrapping paper and cookie sheets. Now that the gifts have been delivered and the baked goodies consumed, I can think about what I’ve done, and what I’ve got left to do.
I won’t lie, as I approach my 46th birthday, I’m freaking out a bit about aging. My hands look like my mom’s, and I’ve succumbed to buying expensive face cream to minimize wrinkles. I worry I’m too old to get published and I’ll never see my books on the shelves at Barnes and Noble or do school visits to encourage young readers and writers. I’m entertaining the idea of running a half marathon, but I worry my older body is more prone to injury. I’m also concerned that my teens are right, and I don’t know anything and am rapidly losing my short-term memory.
But then I remember that age is a state of mind, that 80 year olds run marathons, and that I’ve got three decades of wisdom on my kids. I’m not going to let fear of the unknown or the passing of time stop me from becoming better. This year, I want to kick worry out of my head and embrace the word that I kept throwing at my state bound cross country runners: believe. Yes, Julia’s word for 2017 is believe, and her dreams / goals are as follows:
Goals for this year:
- Write five days a week.
- Finish editing my first manuscript and get a bunch of queries out there by October.
- Write the first three drafts of my second manuscript and get feedback from beta readers by December.
- Run a half marathon or at least a 10K and finally break through the “I’ve only got 30 minutes to run” busy mommy barrier by September.
- Send one letter a week to friends or family.
Goals are specific and time-bound. A goal without a deadline is a dream, but dreams are good too. So,
Dreams for the next five to ten years:
- Publish several books for teens and children.
- Visit schools to encourage students to read and write creatively.
- Start a local chapter of Girls on the Run to combat obesity and encourage strong self-esteem and positive body image among girls in my community.
- Develop a middle school and high school soccer program for girls to do all the of things in the last dream as well as teach a love for the sport.
- Stop worrying so dang much.
Word Nerd Challenge
I got a great response to my post The Underestimated Power of Stationery, in which I suggest that hand written notes carry great value for connecting with loved ones now and in the future. If you believe, like I do, that relationships are a key to happiness, would you please join me in this year long challenge to write one letter each week to a loved one? Dana of Kiss My List is doing it too, and we’d love to hear from others willing to commit!
What are your goals and dreams for 2017? Have you picked a “theme word” for the year? Please share!
Julia, you are the only other writer besides Bev and myself who completed all twelve pieces of the Who I Am project – thank you so much for sticking with us! I’m so happy that you found it worthy of your time.
Let’s keep in touch about how the letter writing is going, and maybe we can do something organized to encourage others too. I’m sorry I didn’t get a chance to touch base with you about it earlier.
“Believe” is an excellent word, and I believe you will accomplish all of your goals! (Pssst – I would LOVE to be a beta reader for your novel. But I’d also be happy to just be a regular ol’ reader and sing your praises loudly across social media.)
I’d love to keep in touch re: letter writing. I think having an accountability partner would be fabulous. Also, I’m happy you volunteered to be a beta reader for me as I was going to ask you. 😉 I’ll be in touch about that, and thanks for the offer!
Julia, I love the idea of sending a weekly letter! I have a friend in California that I do this with (not weekly, but once every couple months!) and it’s a great reminder that maintaining those friendships is so important.
I just finished reading Diana Nyad’s book (Find a Way) and I definitely recommend it. She was 64 on her 5th try when she was successful in swimming 110 miles from Cuba to Florida. You can do the half marathon!
Thank you Megan, both for the encouragement and the book recommendation. 🙂 I will add Find a Way to my Goodreads list.