The blank page has always been exciting to me, and what is the start of the new year if not a brand-new notebook—crisp, blank, and waiting for possibilities? Plus it comes during a season ripe for reflection and pause. If I can’t find the spare moment to consider what I want to accomplish in the coming year now, then I won’t when the cold thaws and spring brings its activities, events, and work travel.

There’s an inherent utility and power in resolutions. Resolutions are traditionally formed to improve your lifestyle, shed a bad habit, build a good one—they’re the building blocks of goals, a means to the end. Resolutions are process; goals are destinations. Resolutions are especially perfect for writers who’d benefit from starting, revising, or even renewing a consistent writing habit.

If resolutions are the impetus to make small steps towards a larger goal, this year I want to work backwards before I begin assigning them to 2023: What are my writing goals? 

What are yours?

How Do Your Goals Serve You?

My writing goals have always been big bites; not impossible, but big. And yet…I haven’t accomplished even the first step towards these goals, namely publishing a book (a big enough goal on its own!). I’ve come further along this road than at any other point, but the other day, I was struck with a question that seemingly came from nowhere: How are my goals serving me? A goal is a signpost, a destination. But if my destination is Bali and all I have are two pennies, I don’t even have the means to hail a taxi to catch the plane, let alone buy a ticket and enjoy myself on vacation. How about the goal of saving for a vacation fund first?

Read the rest of this post on my Substack newsletter: Follow that story.