Posts tagged blogging
I Can Do Anything Good: January
I’m a very goal-oriented person. Clearly. I set goals all the time in 2011, and it seemed like each month ended with a bulleted list of reasons for not achieving my goals. Lesson learned: I know that in order to achieve the goals I set for myself, I need to have a certain level of accountability…
So, here are the goals I set for 2012 at the beginning of the year.
And here’s how I’m doing so far:
Reach my goal weight by June 1
So far, so good! I realize that it may come off a little vain or brainwashed by magazine culture to have my weight at the top of my list of resolutions for 2012, so I want to clarify. This isn’t about me weighing what the gossip magazine and television industry says I should weigh – I don’t want to be a scary skinny bobblehead who survives on, like, kale and pickles and lemon juice. This is about my health, my willpower, and my need to stop eating so much pizza and drinking so much beer.
All that said, I lost 5 lbs. in January. Success!
12 in 12
Mom and I ran the Greenville News 5k, and my official time clocked in at 41:53 with a pace of 13:31. In February, we’ll be running the Frostbite 5k here in Asheville, and my goal is to finish in under 40:00. Bring it, February!
No More Debt
Josh and I are on this new budget system that I heard about on the Elevation Church Podcast. It seems to be working well so far, and I think we’re off to a good start. The hardest part about a budget is realizing that you don’t get to go out to eat or to a bar every time the mood strikes. We’re learning to bargain with ourselves to see where our “fun” priority falls for the week, which is good—but tough to get used to.
Read at least a book a month
Haven’t you heard about my book club? This month I finished The Weird Sisters, which I’ll be blogging about for the BlogHer book club soon. I’m currently reading The Zookeeper’s Wife for the What Are You Reading? book club, and you’re not too late to join us! Click here to join the discussion on Goodreads.
Build a business
Well, I’m freelancing steadily! I have one major client keeping me in steady work. I’m getting used to setting my own schedule and being my own boss. I work on freelance assignments in the evening throughout t\he week, and each Friday I make myself a cup of tea and shut myself in the office with the dogs to finish up the week’s assignments and invoices.
I’ve been doing a lot of brainstorming for the actual business itself – the name, the website, the services offered, the business plan…it’s overwhelming, but I keep reminding myself that this isn’t the kind of thing you cross off your list in a day. I’m happy with where I am and I’m excited about where I’m going.
Did you set goals for 2012? How are you doing so far?
Go somewhere.
I spent my day thinking warm, snuggly thoughts of blankets and hot tea and Jane Austen movies on Netflix. 
I knew that as soon as I walked in the door, I would be hard pressed to do anything other than snuggle with the dogs, turn on the TV, cover up, cuddle in, and drift in and out of a hazy almost-sleep until Josh got home from class.
So when I got home, I said hi to the pups. I took them outside in the rain. We all ran back inside. And I put on my boots, zipped my coat, and headed right back in to the storm.
It is so easy to call an end to my day when I get home from work. To eat dinner, put on PJs, and snuggle in for the night.
But when you are a person with goals and dreams and plans as big as mine, you really don’t have time for that nonsense. And as I am learning, sometimes that means you have to give up the comfort of a full belly and a warm puppy and a cozy blanket for a hard chair and headphones in your favorite coffee shop. Whatever it takes to make you sit up straight and get things done.
Do you feel my pain? Can you concentrate on your work after a full day at your job? Where do you go to stay on task?
Eavesdropper
I’m sitting with Josh in our favorite coffee shop, and I can’t help but listen in on every conversation going on around me. I’m a Nosey Nancy and have been forever. It’s a fact…and a trait that comes in handy when you’re a writer who can’t seem to start writing.
When I was in college, I wrote constantly. I took a lot of pride in filling notebook after notebook with stories, conversations, comics, and ramblings. I would sit in the coffee shop for hours, writing on graph paper until my hand cramped, my pen ran out of ink, or I was asked to buy something or leave.
I’ve always kept a journal, but I don’t think I really started writing until college. I took my first creative writing class freshman year, and one of our early assignments was to eavesdrop. Take someone else’s conversation and make it our story. So as I waited in the airport (one of my favorite places) waiting for a flight home to Indiana, I listened in on nearby conversations until I heard something I could build on.
That first story was pretty terrible - it was an assignment in writing Magical Realism, and my conversation spiraled into one of those terrible “you couldn’t have met Sandy, because she died five years ago ON THIS VERY NIGHT” stories…but it was a start. And I’ve been eavesdropping ever since.
As I approach this October with 750words.com, I’m trying to remember all the ways I used to find inspiration to write.
I have a few more inspirational tricks up my sleeve, but I would love to get your advice, too. Where do you turn for inspiration when you’re having trouble getting started?
