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2018 Resolutions, So Far

 

I am a resolution setting FIEND.

Seriously.

To me, there’s nothing like a good resolution. It’s like a fresh start, isn’t it? Any excuse to make a fresh start (or a resolution) and I’m there.

My birthday. The start of summer. The start of the school year.

Any random Monday.

And of course: January 1.

The granddaddy of all fresh start dates.

I have a method to my madness. Seven New Year’s Resolutions. That’s it. No more. No less.

Seven is manageable.

I can make progress on seven, even if I don’t 100 percent crush all of them. Or even any of them.

Here are my Super Seven for 2018 (So far. It’s only the middle of December. I totally might change my mind.)

  1. Finish my MFA. My last semester starts January 2. Fingers crossed, I should graduate in August.
  2. Write the second book in my current contract. Sell Another Book. It’s due at the end of 2018. This one is non-negotiable. I want a writing career that goes beyond books I’ve already sold. My goal for 2018 is to write something I’m not already contracted for, and sell it.
  3. Be able to run a 5K. Like actually run (Read: not walk. Jogging counts.) Starting point is being able to ‘run’ about 50 steps. Maybe.
  4. Lose 5 pounds. Treat myself like the athlete I want to be. I’ve lost 120. For my big hairy athletic goal, I’d like to lose some more. I don’t like to think about end goals when it comes to weight. Because, really? It isn’t about the number. I want to be able to run. I’m taking it five pounds at a time, all year.
  5. Curate my life. Starting with my house. Deep, deep decluttering. This is an idea I’ve been noodling around with forever. I’m excited to explore it this year.
  6. Crochet a mandala blanket. I like the idea of a huge project that will test my skill level and require me to keep working all year. I may or may not tack on another level to this one and insist on only using yarn I salvage from thrifted sweaters.
  7. Pay off all of our consumer debt. We got about half of it paid off in 2017. Hopefully we can knock out the other half in 2018.

My goal for the rest of December is to write a  post about each goal. Plan around it some. See where it goes. It’s entirely possible that as I explore more deeply, things will change. Or not.

My motto for 2017 was: Just see what happens.

I’m keeping it for 2018. Maybe forever.