Who are you going to be this year?

The first full week of this New Year is coming to a close – how did the beginning of the New Year start out for you?  Did you run at full steam, fresh out of the gate, ready to take on the world?  Did you take your time, carefully mapping out your new routine, thoughts and ideas you hope will garner victory with your goals?  Or did you decide to tuck yourself in and hibernate just one more week before you hit the ground running?

Whatever your process, we now have 51 weeks left of this year…still plenty of time to reach those goals, make those changes, find more time to do what makes us happy and whole.

My New Year began fairly well – while I was not quite running at full steam, and there were days when I just wanted to hibernate for awhile longer (it’s been so cold!), for the most part I went through the process of mapping out what I need to do to keep myself on track and I was able to make some good headway on what I expect from my author self, including some good time spent working on the fourth book in my series.

I have a new writing planner all ready to go – where I can track my status as I write, as I research and learn, as I market, promote, blog and otherwise work on my author platform.  It helps me keep myself accountable when I can see at a glance what I’ve accomplished in any given week or over a whole month.

I have my weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly to-do lists all compiled and ready to complete and check off as each month passes by.

I have inspirational quotes and photos in my new planner, on my desk and in my office.  Here are a few of my favorites from my 2016 planner: 

“Inspiration does exist, but it must find you working.” ~Pablo Picasso~ 

“Don’t worry about failures, worry about the chances you miss when you don’t even try.” 

~Jack Canfield~

 “Surprise yourself every day with your own courage.”  ~Denholm Elliott~

“When something goes wrong in your life just yell ‘plot twist!’ and move on.”

The last one is my favorite, because it’s humorous but it’s probably the hardest to attempt considering all the ‘plot twists’ I’ve dealt with the past two years.  I’ll likely get back to posting positive quotes on my Facebook page on a semi-regular basis…they help me as much as anyone who might see them on any given day.

In addition to preparations made to hit the stride I need to move on in full force, I had to ask myself this question: who are you going to be this year?

I know how I could be described…there are the obvious labels like, mother, wife, daughter, employee, friend, business owner, dog lover.  I could also be described as curious and creative, confident and organized, sincere and trustworthy. 

But what changes do I have to make to become who I want to be? 

To reach my goals?  

To live a balanced and creative life?  

To be able to do what makes me happy and whole?

Who I want to be would include my good attributes, but to succeed in life I need to water down those that hold me back, such as fear of change, hidden insecurities or the craving to remain in my comfort zone.  I want to be passionate, motivated and have a strong belief in myself, but the person I want to be would also include being open to change, an inspiration to others, determined, energetic and fearless. 

So there you go – I’m a work in progress, just like the books I’m currently working on, but with positive change the results will be improvement and momentum.

And that’s what I’m looking for this year, so I’m on the right track!