Happy 2018!

Happy New Year!

I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and are filled with energy and optimism for this brand new year. I wish you lots of love and lots of laughter throughout.

To catch you up, the first week of December our area of San Antonio received almost three inches of snow. Some of you may have already seen this image, but I thought I'd share again. It snowed at night, and this was taken the following morning. By afternoon, everything had melted.


My typical January post is about goals. However, since I'm actually writing this post before Christmas, and I'm running behind, I haven't even started on 2018 goals yet. Anything remotely goalish is still rumbling around in my head.

So instead, I'm going to chat about something more important - Real Life.

Most of the time, I'm pretty laid back. I'm not a worrier. That said, I do get stressed out way more often than I'd like. This year, I'm going to try to do something about that.

So maybe I should call these things Real Life Goals as opposed to Writing Goals. They're things I'm going to try that I hope will remind me that I don't live in a vacuum and that everyone in my life, myself included, are more than make-believe characters. We are all human with real human needs.

Anyway, here are my intentions for the year, with hopes of taking my life back and being a better people person.

  • Listen more to that inner voice that says to stop and smell the roses, warns me of toxic people, and sometimes gives me a heads-up on all kinds of things.
  • Say no more often.
  • Say yes more often, too, giving myself permission to play.
  • Look for the good.
  • Be less judgmental.
  • Try the random act of kindness thing. I may not make it every day, but even once is better than never.
  • Not obsess over things I can't control.
  • Try to stay more focused and in the moment. Sometimes this isn't easy when I live in both story world and real life.
  • Be kinder to myself and not beat myself up if I miss a goal. Enjoy the journey.
  • Treat myself to something every week, whether it's chocolate or an afternoon reading. Can you tell I'm a bit of a Type A Workaholic? Perhaps if I could focus all my work energy solely on writing, I'd write faster :) 

I know all of these sound great and a little pie-in-the-sky. But if even a few of them work, I'll be happy.

How about you?

Do you need to focus on self-improvement this year? Or have you tried anything like this before? If so, I'd love to hear your ideas and suggestions.

I'll be back here on Monday, February 5, with a special guest. Mark your calendar!



Comments

Those are much better goals. Gives you some flexibility.
Jan Morrison said…
Excellent goals. I particularly like the saying no more often one. I will add that. I know when I'm feeling no and saying yes it is an ego cherishing pit I'm falling into. Yikes.
Natalie Aguirre said…
Love your goals. They are great guidelines to live by. And I'm type A like you all the way. Happy New Year!
Carol Kilgore said…
Alex - I like flexibility :)

Jan - Both No and Yes will be equally important for me, I think. For some reason, I think I have to work all the time.

Natalie - Sometimes Type A is good, but others... ugh. Happy New Year back to you :)
Love your goals.
No is hard for me. And I pay an expensive toll for my inability to say it.
I would add another to your list too. Learning to be as kind to myself (for goal failures among other things) as I am to others.
I hope your New Year (and all the years to come) is full of creative joy.
Bish Denham said…
I'm not a workaholic, but those goals could be mine as well, particularly the one about obsessing over things I can't control. This year has taught me a lot about that one... We only got a dusting of that snow here in the Hill Country. Now, if we could get out of this freezer that would be nice.
L. Diane Wolfe said…
Excellent goals. I set a list of goals both professionally and personally for this year.

I hope we wake up to snow like that tomorrow.
Julie Flanders said…
Not obsessing over things I can't control is something I am working on too. Easier said than done! Good luck with your goals and I wish you a very Happy New Year, Carol! *hugs*
Jemi Fraser said…
Love those goals! I love doing random acts of kindness - paid for someone's coffee in the drive thru the other day and drove away grinning! So much fun :)
I definitely have to work on the self-care bit too. Making time to play is brilliant!
Wishing you all the best for 2018
Carol Kilgore said…
EC - I always know I've made the right decision when I do say no, but when I say yes instead, I always regret it. This year I WILL do better. Thanks for your good wishes.

Bish - I've been cold since Sunday, LOL.

Diane - Good on the goal setting! I finally got my goals done for the year, but still hammering away at a schedule. I think I'm finally almost back in place from the summer move.

Julie - Much easier! Thanks for your good wishes, and hugs back :)
Carol Kilgore said…
Jemi - We crossed! May this be our year!
klahanie said…
Hi Carol,

Excellent goals and indeed, listen to that inner voice, which I also think of as the inner child.

Your goals are most notable positive resources and I heartily concur.

Welcome to 2018, my kind friend.

Gary
H. R. Sinclair said…
Those are great goals. They should lead you down a happy, healthy path. :)
I love your goals. I think I will adopt them as my own.
dolorah said…
Life goals are important too. Staying positive is not easy for me either. Glass half empty and all that. . .
Terrific goals! I think we could all benefit from similar ones.

We got quite a lot of snow here in early December, too. Like five or six inches around our neighborhood, and as much as a foot in others nearby. Yipes! This is supposed to be HOTlanta! It's anything BUT that right now. C-c-c-cold.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Carol Kilgore said…
Gary - My inner voice and I are becoming much better acquainted. Happy 2018!

HR - I'm hoping!

Lynda - Do it! Maybe we can do a mid-year check to see how we're doing :)

Susan - The hard part is the follow-through. We were in the 20s here most of the week - that's the high temp! In San Antonio! But the spell has broken. Sunny and they say we will see upper 50s today. So it will come your way soon.
Blogoratti said…
Wonderful thoughts indeed, have a prosperous year ahead. Best wishes!
Carol Kilgore said…
Blogoratti - Thanks for stopping by and commenting.
DMS said…
Those sound like wonderful goals. So important to be good to ourselves. I have been working on saying no more and not getting myself in stressful situations.

Wishing you a happy and healthy 2018. :)
~Jess
Carol Kilgore said…
Jess - Thanks for the new year wishes. Learning to say no is hard, but I always feel so much better on the times I can actually do it. Hope 2018 is wonderful for you in every way.
Jennifer Shirk said…
Happy New Year, Carol!

Those are wonderful life goals for every year. <3
Carol Kilgore said…
Jennifer - Thanks. I'll need to reread these at least once a month, I'm sure :)
I love your list, Carol!
Two items that really resonated with me:
Be less judgmental. YES. You never know what somebody else is going through...
Try the random act of kindness thing. YES. I'm a firm believer in RAOK! Kindness is sorely lacking in this "fast-paced-instant-gratification-world"...
Happy 2018... and Happy Writing, my friend!
See you around on Facebook!
Crystal Collier said…
I LOVE your goals. I'm working on a couple of them too--like the living in the moment and giving myself permission to play. That's especially hard as a home schooling mom of 5.

That snow you got? We were driving by when it happened--on our way home to Florida. I think we brought a little bit of Utah on the road with us.
Carol Kilgore said…
Michelle - I feel the same about kindness. Thanks for the good wishes. See you around :)

Crystal - It's hard work for me to play, but once I get into it, I don't want to stop! Are you coming back this way next week? They say we have another chance for "winter precipitation" :)
Mark said…
Happy 2018 to you too! May this year bring you lots of joy:)
Carol Kilgore said…
Mark - Thanks. Let's make 2018 rock!
TL said…
Those are excellent goals, Carol. :-)

And after our 10 inches snow turned into a week of 60's I noticed yesterday that the parking lots still have giant mounds of snow where they were plowed. Crazy!
Carol Kilgore said…
Tara - Sticking with them is not always easy :) I'm ready for spring!

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