As we all should, I routinely check in on my goals from the last year before/while making my list of items to “finish” in the next year. {Jon Acuff introduced me to the idea of a finish list, which I found works far better than generic “goals.” So check it out.}

In 2012: 

1. Polish In Dawns Shadows and prepare proposal. Done! I love that story. 

2. Attend OCW Summer Conference and ACFW National Conference. Hit half of this goal! The funds and stars were not properly aligned for the ACFW National Conference to happen. 

3. Continue blog 3-5 days a week with good, solid content. Hit 5/6th of this goal – since I essentially took off all of November and December from blogging. Oops. But the lessons learned far outweigh whether or not I can scratch this off.

4. Expand my social media training and coaching side business. (More to come on this later.)

5. Write another novel for NaNoWriMo. Write in a fresh way, different time period, something more challenging. Done, done, done! That was a fun, challenging one, too. I’ll post about my NaNoWriMo experience soon.

6. Run a 5k. I entered a local 5k and managed to walk/jog/limp/run my way through it! 

So for 2013, here’s what I’m aiming for:

1. Polish and create a proposal for the 2012 NaNoWriMo novel and pitch at OCW Summer Conference. I’ve kept up this cycle for three years and it’s worked out well for me as far as growing my writing and forcing me to produce a new body of work each year. 

2. Run another 5k. This year, I want to increase my {shameful} time by ten minutes. 

3. Write Confessions five days a week. This blog’s purpose is to help me cultivate my voice and create a little more vulnerability within me. So let’s see if it works!

4. Write another novel for NaNoWriMo. (self-explanatory – gotta write another novel!)

5. Do not volunteer for anything new.

6. Send out two hand-written cards every week. In this digital age, there’s nothing more powerful than a gesture that says, “You matter to me so much I bothered to put stamps on an envelope and hand-write you a personal note.” I’ve been doing this for a few months now, and it is too much fun to stop. 

In all of this, I plan on practicing excellence. {well, to be fair, my 5k run/walk/try-not-to-collapse time might not be “excellent” compared to the general population…}

I dare you to create a list of items that you will “finish” by the end of 2013. What sorts of things are on your list? 

Much love,

the “has-been”