Dear Me 2026

Self guidence is not bad.

Dear Me.

You are sitting here at the start of a fresh year with the same mix of hope and doubt you always carry. That is fine. You have learned by now that doubt does not mean stop. It means slow down, pay attention, and keep going anyway. This letter is here to remind you of that when the noise creeps in.

First, let us talk about writing, because that is the center of everything you want. This year, you will write five days a week, no excuses, no drama. Each session will be at least seven hundred words. That means by March 31 you will have written roughly one hundred thousand new words. Not perfect words. Real ones. Some will be clumsy. Some will surprise you. All of them count. By June 30, you will finish one complete novella draft of at least forty thousand words. Not half a story. Not notes. A full beginning, middle, and ending. You know how good it feels to finish, so do not rob yourself of that feeling.

You will also submit your work. Hiding does not protect you anymore. By April 15, you will submit one short piece to a literary magazine or online publication. By August 15, you will submit two more. Rejections will happen. They always do. When they come, you will read them once, feel whatever you feel for one evening, then send the work somewhere else within forty eight hours. No wallowing allowed.

Reading matters too, but be specific. This year you will read twenty four books. Two per month. At least twelve of them must be fiction in the genre you write. The rest can be anything that stretches you. You will keep a simple notebook where you write one paragraph after each book about what worked and what did not. Not analysis. Honest reaction. This is how you sharpen your instincts.

You also need to take care of the part of you that fuels the work. You will walk for thirty minutes at least four days a week. No phone. No podcasts. Just you and your thoughts. Many of your best ideas arrive when your body is moving and your mind is quiet. You already know this, so stop pretending you forgot.

Money goals matter, and pretending they do not has only slowed you down. By December 31, you will earn at least two thousand dollars directly from your writing. That can come from freelance work, self published fiction, or a mix of both. Break it down. Five hundred by June. Another five hundred by September. The rest by the end of the year. Small steps add up when you actually take them.

You are also allowed to enjoy this. That is not a reward you earn later. It is part of the process. When you finish a big milestone, like completing that novella draft, you will celebrate in a simple way. A good meal. A quiet afternoon. Something that tells your brain this work matters.

When you lose momentum, and you will, come back to this letter. Remember that these goals are not dreams floating in the air. They are promises you made with clear numbers and dates because you respect yourself enough to be serious. You are not chasing perfection. You are building consistency. That is what turns effort into results.

Keep going. Even on the boring days. Especially on the boring days. This year is not about proving anything to anyone else. It is about showing yourself what happens when you stop holding back.

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