The prospect of a new year can either feel daunting or hopeful. For most people, it’s a time to reflect on the previous year and everything yet to be accomplished while turning an optimistic eye toward the future. And while we all want to thrive in the new year, it can be very easy to lose sight of what’s most important in our rigid resolutions and plans.
As writers, it can be helpful to think of the new year as a clean slate. It is a time to set new goals for ourselves, but more importantly, it’s our opportunity to reignite the creative spark inside and remember why we started doing this in the first place.
Five Ways To Thrive In The New Year:
Dream Again
We are predisposed to immediately think of resolutions at the start of the new year. But if you really think about it, those resolutions often evolve out of our inability to stay on target with something we set out to do the year before. And that’s mostly because we tend to focus on our negative habits and not on the dream of what could be.
As writers, we have an innate desire to change the world with our stories. We spend a great deal of time planning and executing strategies to make that dream a reality. But if we’re not careful, we can become so focused on our rigid and militant plans that we lose sight of the dream itself.
To thrive in the new year, forego the strict and mundane resolutions and start with the dream that initially fueled your desire to write. Imagine what you’d like to accomplish in the new year, and then let that vision inspire a planning process that is fun and unique to you.
Choose Your Goals
Allow the dream to inspire you to freely explore your options with an eye toward a plan that works for you. Envisioning an ideal outcome will inspire you to shift from rigid, self-imposed resolutions to goals you can attain.
Start with reasonable milestones and then break those objectives into more manageable tasks. Identify the things that will enable you to accomplish those goals while giving yourself a way to keep track of your progress.
Permit yourself to make mistakes along the way. Failure to meet a goal is simply an opportunity to gain more insight into the process. Use what you’ve learned to continually adjust your goals to maximize your potential for success.
Fuel Your Vision
Let your plans inspire you as you strive to accomplish your objectives. Envision where you want to be, and then look for ways to fuel that vision so that you stay motivated throughout the creative process.
To thrive in the new year, keep that vision in front of you in a tangible way. Create a mood board with imagery that evokes the look and feel of your story, or create a playlist with music that captures your favorite scenes. Fill your workspace with items that speak directly to you and inspire you to keep at it.
Don’t let the work cause you to lose sight of that vision. Find ways to continually stir it up within you so that it always remains fresh in your mind.
Stay Balanced
While writing should be a top priority for any writer, it’s important to remember that it should never become all-consuming. Like everything else, such activities must be balanced with other vital aspects of your life.
Don’t neglect the importance of balancing your work with time for rest and relaxation. Consider what you need to stay refreshed daily, monthly, and throughout the year, and then purposefully schedule those essential breaks into your plan.
Having wellness goals that fit with your work goals is a great way to ensure that you’re growing in every area of your life. Take time to replenish your physical body with proper nutrition, exercise, and recreation. Be mindful of activities and relationships that breathe new life into you while avoiding the ones that drain you. And nurture your mind and spirit with moments of reflection and meditation.
Stay Flexible
We often fail to keep resolutions because they are rigid by nature. They take the form of self-imposed rules that can be very unforgiving. These rules leave us burdened by guilt and shame instead of inspiring us to keep moving forward.
When choosing your goals, remember that no plan is immune to life’s inevitable twists and turns. Remember that you’re in control of your schedule. Give yourself permission to alter and adjust your plan as needed so you can continue making progress toward your goals.
Flexibility not only gives us room to grow, but it also provides us valuable opportunities to learn. Shifting our focus from rules to progress ultimately compels us to keep going in the face of unexpected challenges or obstacles.
Summing it up
To thrive in the new year, we need to abandon the rigid resolutions of the past and embrace the flexible and attainable goals of the future. Dream big. Take action to transform that dream into a vision. Start making progress toward your chosen goals while maintaining a healthy balance. And above all, keep writing!
Until next time,
