I’m a superstitious person. I knock on wood, if something bad happens I don’t wear the same outfit again, I throw salt over my shoulder. In the past five years I’ve noticed that odd years aren’t good for me. Bad things happen in odd years that I would rather forget. And 2013 was no exception. I got bronchitis, had stomach flu, found out my cat is very sick (heart problem and a blot clot), my grandmother passed away. But I realized that good things also happened in those years and that’s what I should be focusing on. I went on an amazing trip to England with my fiancé, I published my first short story – and then two more were in an anthology. I also figured out why I tended to procrastinate a lot instead of getting work done.
First I want to examine the goals I had for 2013. I didn’t accomplish them. I got close on a few but for the most part they were a total bust.
To recap here were the goals I posted January 1:
Have at least 5 books available on the major online stores – the first one in January (most of these will be under my pen name but Reflections will be under mine) – I have 4 “books” up. Reflections, Nefarious North (with the two short stories), a booklet about wedding dress shopping by the creative pen name Wendy Bridal and another short story under my pen name.
Submit the four short stories I wrote for Woman’s World to Woman’s World – I submitted one short story.
Submit at least 2 other short stories for calls for submissions – By the end of today I will be submitting 2 short stories for calls for submission.
Finish writing one script (I have a few on the go so I should be able to finish one of them) – Nope.
Read 24 books (I’m starting today with Tess Gerritsen’s The Apprentice) – Including non-fiction I’ve read 12 books this year.
Watch 100 movies (I’m starting this today too with January Man) – Not even close. I think it was around 30.
Read 12 scripts (I have a list started of the ones I want to read) – Nope.
I saved the most important goals for last:
Spend time with family and friends – I always do this one.
Plan my wedding! – Yes. Most of it is planned but we still need a caterer.
Save for my wedding – Yes, started saving for it but still have a lot to save.
Diet and exercise to improve my health – Nope.
Not a stellar year. I’ve definitely had better. But I did get some things accomplished. Back to the why I procrastinate part. If you’ve been following the blog you know I was diagnosed with sleep apnea. It’s dangerous if untreated and has a lot of symptoms. Now that I know I have it I realize my lack of focus was probably because of the sleep apnea. My irritability (especially at work) was because of it. Waking up tired all the time, especially during the week, was because of it. Now that I’m using a CPAP machine I have more energy and more focus. So that was my year in a nutshell. How was yours? Did you accomplish everything you wanted? Tomorrow I’ll be posting new goals. I’m hoping 2014 will be a great year.
Until next time…
Cindy
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