So….new year. Last year was not great on so may levels. It was a bad year. It gets no biscuit. Now we begin a new year with a new plan. The plans may go off the rails, but you got to start somewhere. A plan is not a resolution. A plan is structure of activities and goals. Here is my plan for 2018.
Item #1 Write more. I will write more across the board. I have a few targets I want to meet. First, I will write at least a blog post per week. At the end of the year, I should have at least 52 blog posts. I may have more. I want to have more, but I will shoot for at least 52. At least one blog post a month will be a work of fiction. It may be a bit of fiction I had on a back burner that needed more polish or a completely new thing, but I will have one of those blog posts a month will be fiction. That thought terrifies me. I don’t share my fiction often, but I need to stretch beyond my comfort zone.
Item #2 I will make more videos. I will publish a video a week for the rest of the year. I will have published at least 52 videos by the end of the year. That has fallen to the wayside as my life has changed in the past year. I am going to make a point of correcting that. I may do reviews, or topic discussions or just vlogs but I will be talking more. As a corollary, I will be making more podcast episodes this year, at least for the Tome Show and anywhere else I can get in. I do the Monstrous Ecologist for them and I have a few monsters in the planning stages.
Item #3 I will make an effort to treat my health better. I have let myself go this year mainly because of depression, life changes, and illness. I need to not let that remain my new status quo. That means eating better, exercising when I can, and trying to see to my mental health more. Part of that is trying to get out more and see people. I live like a hermit. My work hours help encourage that. I need to work against that tendency and see my friends more.
Item #4 Create and learn more. This ties into the writing some, but I am also an artist and a little bit of a crafter. I am a cook and a designer. I have many skills I do not use nearly enough and the lack of use almost leads to those skills atrophying. I will draw more this year than last. I will make more chain mail. I will cook more. I will be more of a maker than a consumer whenever possible.
This is my plan in broad strokes. I know I will stumble in places, but if you don’t have a starting point…..what do you have?