Blogocentric Formulations

New Year, New Resolutions

The New Year always gets me into a good mood. I suppose that the first day of January isn't really any different than any other day of the year, and there's really no good reason not to make a resolution for change and start on any other day... but there's something refreshing and inspiring about a whole new year. (And in this case, a whole new decade too!) I'll go into my resolutions in greater detail for my forthcoming "Dear Me" contest entry, but this year is about progress and productivity.

One of my biggest problems in recent years has been that I always set unrealistic goals for myself. Ones that seemed at the outset to be manageable, but in retrospect set me up to fail. "I'm going to write one page a day." "I'm going to go for a run every single morning." "I'm going to finish three screenplays this year." My issue has always been motivation... and since life is fond of throwing monkey wrenches into the works, it's nearly impossible to write or exercise every single day. Some days are busy, some are cruddy, some are spent in bed sick. And when I don't do something one day, I'll say, "Okay, I didn't run yesterday, so if I don't run today, it's no big deal; I'll just run tomorrow." Then, before I know it, three weeks have gone by since the last time I went for a run.

So this year, I'm building in some wiggle room, for those days when I'm just not feeling it or just can't seem to find the time. Telling myself that I'm going to go for a run in the morning four times a week gives me three days to say, "Nah, don't feel like it" without breaking my resolution and discouraging myself. Writing at 10 screenplay pages a week ensures that I can skip days that are busy and still gives me time to cram over the weekend to meet my goal. If I can give myself goals that anticipate those off days, maybe I can keep my motivation up by not getting it in my head that I'm failing myself.

And, of course, the big resolution I made for myself this year is to stop convincing myself that thinking about writing is the same thing as writing. While some focused brainstorming counts, I'm far too prone to let my mind wander from thought to meandering thought... and then tell myself that it's technically working on my writing to think about the dozens of different stories I have in my head. My resolutions have also built in time for daydreaming... but I'm going to stop telling myself that it's a productive use of time and contributing toward my writing goals for the year. 2010 is the year that I can daydream all I want... but on top of that, I'm also going to park my butt in a chair and put words to keyboard.

I feel good about 2010. Last year - and the last several, in fact - haven't been great. I'm very fortunate in that the necessities have been and continue to be covered... but between my wife and I and various job stuff, car stuff, school stuff, family stuff, etc., these past five years or so have really been a struggle. It's a new year and a new decade... and I've got a good feeling that things are going to be on the upswing pretty soon.

I know I'm not the only one that could use a good year this year.

Here's to 2010... the year where I'm resolving to actually complete my resolutions!