linaewen | Entries tagged with goals

Day 13

In your own space, talk about setting yourself a fannish goal. Big or small, it doesn't matter. Some great examples include: complete a bingo, sign-up for a Big Bang, write that fic you've been thinking about for years, podfic that story that you love, make a fanmix for your fandom, post that bit of meta or reclist you keep postponing. Maybe resolve to be better at leaving feedback, or answering comments.

I have several goals that I would like to see accomplished -- this year, if possible!

1. I want to finish two Works In Progress that have been dormant for far too long:

Dreaming New Dreams This one is almost finished, but it will take some research and a revisiting of the fandom (Major anime/manga) to get back into it enough to complete it.

Face of the Enemy This one has possibly four or five chapters left to bring it to a conclusion, but I am totally stuck in a place where I have to write a battle. I know a lot of what needs to be included in the chapter, but I left it too long and now I'm a bit blocked with writing it. However, I love the story, and I definitely want to finish it this year!

2. I want to add more than just one or two chapters per year to my epic Work In Progress:

Lords of Gondor. I've been writing this one for something like ten years, so I think it's time to make some better progress. I used to be able to churn out a chapter a week, but those days are long gone. But a chapter a year is not acceptable!

3. I want to post a "new" project:

My very first multi-chapter story that I ever wrote was called 110 Days (Lord of the Rings fandom) and was shared on a limited basis in an LotR community and its archive. I have wanted for some time to revise this story to correct some errors in the timeline and to make it more in line with book canon. It won't take much to get it in shape, because it's still quite good, if I do say so myself! I then want to start posting the edited and revised chapters on a wider basis in all the archives where I upload my writing.

If all this happens this year, it will be awesome (and a miracle), but these goals are actually doable if I behave myself and manage my time wisely and don't get writer's block. Of course, I'll be involved in other writing challenges throughout the year which I won't be able to resist because the prompts are so appealing, but these are my always-in-front-of-me goals that I will continue to pursue until they are accomplished!

Current Mood: hopeful
Crossposts: http://lin4gondor.livejournal.com/290224.html

The following is a portion of a devotional by Max Lucado, which I find helpful to setting my goals for the new year -- and each day in it! I'm putting it here, early in the month so I can find it again when I need to remind myself how I am choosing to live each day as I am able, and as I am enabled.

I CHOOSE LOVE…
No occasion justifies hatred; no injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love. Today I will love God and what God loves.

I CHOOSE JOY…
I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical… the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God.

I CHOOSE PEACE…
I will live forgiven. I will forgive so that I may live.

I CHOOSE PATIENCE…
I will overlook the inconveniences of the world. Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I'll invite him to do so. Rather than complain that the wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment to pray. Instead of clenching my fist at new assignments, I will face them with joy and courage.

I CHOOSE KINDNESS…
I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone. I will be kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me.

I CHOOSE GOODNESS…
I will go without a dollar before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked before I will boast. I will confess before I will accuse. I choose goodness.

I CHOOSE FAITHFULNESS…
Today I will keep my promises. My debtors will not regret their trust. My associates will not question my word. My spouse will not question my love.

I CHOOSE GENTLENESS…
Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice, may it be only in praise. If I clench my fist, may it only be in prayer. If I make a demand, may it only be of myself.

I CHOOSE SELF CONTROL…
I am a spiritual being… After this body is dead, my spirit will soar. I refuse to let what will rot rule the eternal. I choose self-control. I will be drunk only by joy. I will be impassioned only by my faith. I will be influenced only by God. I will be taught only by Christ. I choose self-control.

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. To these I commit my day. If I succeed, I will give thanks. If I fail, I will seek His grace. And then, when this day is done, I will place my head on my pillow and rest.

From EACH DAY by Max Lucado (When God Whispers Your Name)

I know I won't always be able to manage the above choices, and I know I won't always make good choices. And I know I don't have to do all of these things all the time every time, but it is enough to be trying. "For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 1:8)

I'm off to have a good day!

Current Mood: hopeful

Happy 2010, everybody!

As I was looking back over my entries for this past year, I realized I had only posted 29 times last year. Good grief! That's almost criminal! I shall make it a goal to do better in this new year, because being in touch with my friends is important to me.

Also, while looking back I found the following post from January 1, 2005, listing my goals for the new year. Those goals are amazingly still appropriate for five years later, right down to the upcoming class reunion in August! This time it's the 35th reunion, and I really ought lose more than 25 lbs., but I think it best not to bite off more than I can chew as far as weight loss goals go at the moment. :-D

From January 1, 2005:

The goals I have for myself this year are nothing new, really -- but it always seems like a good day to start new things that have come to mind which I want to do, as well as begin again in those areas where I have been falling behind. So here they are, my goals for the new year -- and I am putting them here where I will be able to find them again to check my progress, and where my friends will see them so they can keep me accountable. I'm also not putting them behind a cut, because I want to see them and not hide them, where they may be forgotten or ignored. ;-)

In no particular order...

1. Be CONSISTENT in my devotional times, so that I have the spiritual strength to face each day.

2. Lose 25 lbs. by August -- that may be cutting it a bit fine according to the best way to lose weight, but it's a goal, and I'm going to aim for it! My 30th class reunion is August 13, so that is why I choose that date. Along with this is a goal to eat properly to keep my blood pressure under control.

3. Get more exercise. I have begun a walking program based on The Eowyn Challenge which will hopefully make walking more interesting -- I just have to figure out how many miles Boromir traveled from Minas Tirith to Rivendell! :-D

4. Spend more time doing things with my son while he is here with us; schedule it if I have to, and be willing to put aside my own plans to serve his needs -- more than I have been. And that goes for other people who are important in my life, as well!

5. Make a schedule of required tasks and stick to it, in order to keep up and keep ahead. I have so many different responsibilities to keep track of that they become a great burden if I do not keep them in order. I do not wish to be in thrall to the List of Doom again this year. ;-)

6. Read more -- finish some books I have begun, and read ones I have been wanting to read but haven't gotten around to it. I shall list these at a later date, but one my goals is to reread The Silmarillion, The Hobbit, and LOTR again as a whole -- I haven't done this for awhile, since the movies came along to throw off my once a year trilogy-reading cycle.

7. Write more letters more often; I especially want to keep in better touch with my friends in Pakistan, and that will mean polishing up my Urdu writing skills. =O

The same post also included a link to a really inspirational passage by Max Lucado, but alas, the link is expired! However, that very piece was included as the preface to the devotional book I began reading again from the beginning this morning, so all is well. I shall save that for sharing in a separate post of its own, so it won't lose its impact for me. :-)

Newsy stuff:

We are still in Wisconsin, heading back to Chicago on Monday. We are spending the day rearranging furniture and putting things away in storage. We will have our traditional New Year's Day marathon of board games later in the day, when our DS gets back from work. Hopefully he'll be up to a game marathon, after working the 5 am shift at McDonald's on New Year's Day. ;-)

Have a great day everyone, and may it be the first of many great days in the coming year!