Meredith Mansfield, Author

Okay, so it’s time to set some goals for the year ahead.

As far as writing goes, I’m going to try the same one I failed at last year. Dedicate time every day to writing, even if, at first, all I’m doing is staring at a blinking cursor. Since I did fail at it last year (and yesterday, but . . . I claim a holiday exception for that one) I’m dialing it back a bit. Let’s start with fifteen minutes and gradually build up. More is, of course, just fine–but it doesn’t mean I don’t owe the same fifteen minutes the next day.

For diet and health, well, the last couple of weeks excepted (there’s that holiday exception again), what I’ve done so far has worked fairly well. For diet, my plan has been and will continue to be to make small changes that I can turn into habits. Once those habits are established, I can then make a few more small changes. My first targets are:

• Changing from 2% milk to 1%. This change was suggested by a dietician.

• Changing my afternoon snack to something healthier. Unfortunately, I still haven’t figured out what this will be. It may take a little trial and error.

• Cutting back on hard candies with the goal of eliminating them altogether.

I generally get plenty of exercise walking, but down the road I may want to look into adding something else to the mix. I need to give that some thought.

And, one more. Since annual accountability failed last year. I’m going to report on progress monthly this year. We’ll see.

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Wow, it’s been pretty quiet around here, lately, hasn’t it? Mostly, I haven’t had a lot to say, unfortunately. Nevertheless, that’s no reason to skip accountability. So . . . how did I do with my goals for last year?

My first and main goal was to re-establish some sort of regular writing habit, even just half an hour to start–everyday. No diversions allowed. Half an hour where I have to either write or stare at a blinking cursor. No skipping over to play a game of solitaire. No checking the internet–unless it’s for legit research. Then, gradually increase that time to a whole hour, and so on.

It was a good plan. And an epic fail. I did try to use NaNoWriMo to re-establish the habit, with mixed success. Still, I think I may make this the goal again for next year. But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. That’s for next week’s post.

My second goal was to continue improving my diet and general fitness.

I believe I’ve made some progress there, at least.

My third goal was to read more widely. Try new authors and subjects. And to continue learning new things.

Again, at least some success, though perhaps less than I hoped.

And have faith that the world will settle into a new normal, probably not exactly the same as before. But less fraught. More comfortable. And next year’s holiday season will be different.

Well, apart from having faith, this one was really out of my control. And it’s clearly still a work in progress, both for me and the world in general. May next year see a more significant change. We all need it.

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