It’s July first, so it must be time to check in with our goals for 2022 and see how we’re doing.
My goal progress has been a mixed bag so far. Some goals have been slam dunks. Some are lagging. And some got dropped altogether.
Let’s see where we are, and check-in with our progress together.
Step one- How it started
What were your goals at the start of the year? I had nine specific goals.
Read the entire bible
Read 42 books
Take 24 Masterclasses
Build our emergency fund
Plan a covid safe vacation
Get the husband’s health on track
Join SFWA
Attend a con
Make progress on my novels
I want you to write your goals down just like I did, without any judgment about how far you’ve gotten, or not gotten. Any progress is fine. No progress is also fine.
We all tend to apply magical thinking in January, don’t we? We think this is going to be the year we do all the things. Nothing’s going to stand in our way in January. We’re going to be our very best selves every single day, and so is everyone else.
And in July, that same magic feels like it’s working against us. We tend to forget the two weeks we were sick, the unexpected expense, and the emergency that we had to deal with.
Life is just never going to go to plan. Sometimes we can compensate. Sometimes we can’t.
Step two- How it’s going
Now is the time to look at where we are with each of our goals. If we reached a goal, or are on track, that’s freaking awesome! If we’re not, now is the time to consider why we’re not.
Do we need to work on time management?
Do we need to focus on better habits with our spending?
Or is this just a goal that no longer applies to us?
Some of my goals, like taking 24 masterclasses, are going away. Masterclass is expensive, and going to Nebula con was more important.
Some of my goals needed a new tactic. Reading the bible every day just was not happening. Until I found a bible in a year podcast. Now, I can listen to the daily readings while I’m cleaning the kitchen. Win/win!
So, at this stage, you want to take these steps.
1. Decide if any of your goals are no longer a priority to you. Drop those right off your list.
2. Take anything off your list that you’ve accomplished. Yay, you!
Here’s what I had left after that.
-Read the entire bible (Currently eleven days into the bible in a year podcast I found)
-Read 42 books (21 down, 21 to go)
-Get the husband’s health on track (this is a work in progress)
-Join SFWA (Still a work in progress)
-Make progress on my novels (Got one book out, making progress for some exciting content for you guys in 2023!)
Step three- Where’s it going from here.
Finally, it’s time to make some realistic goals for the second half of 2022. Make sure you’re considering things like holidays. I don’t know about you, but my second half of the year is always less productive than the first.
Another thing I like to do is add some not vital projects to my list. They’re not my top priorities, but they’re on the list of things it would be awesome to finish before the end of the year.
Right now, my list looks like this.
Join SFWA
Get a literary agent
Make progress on the bible in a year podcast.
Finish 42 books
Study tarot cards, one card each week
Achieve Camp Nano goal
Study cartomancy
Celebrate each holiday and sabbat to its fullest
Create a go-bag in case of emergencies
Build my fuck off fund
Achieve Nanowrimo goal
Finish the scripts for the second draft of AA.
Redo my laundry room
Redo my holiday supply closet
This list has three things on it. Goals that I plan to make progress on but may not finish. Goals that are super important to me that I will finish before the end of the year. And finally, projects that enrich my life and will make me happy to complete.
And please, if you take nothing else from this post, take this away.
Your goals should be there to make you happy.
All of my goals are designed to make me happy. All of your goals should be designed to make you happy.
I hope your midyear check-in goes well, everyone. We’ve got six more months to go in 2022. Let’s see what we can accomplish together.
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