Recently Read: 92 days til’ 13 [plus a declaration about the rest of my year]

So weird. Why does 92 days sound so short but 12 weeks sounds do-able?

A bit from "92 days til’ 13" at Jon Acuff's Blog, which I read today:

"We've got 92 days til’ 13.
Get your finish list back out.
Cut the whole list down to one thing....
Pick a day and time you’ll work on that goal at least once a week for the next 12 weeks.
That’s it."

My goal for these 92 days is to finish my book. Obviously, I'll be working on it more than once a week. Ideally, I'll work on it every day. Realistically, I have to work on it more days than I don't.

I'm not allowed to scrap the entire book halfway through and start on something else, which is my biggest hang-up. I am not allowed "Oh, it just wasn't working" excuses. This may not end up being a publishable book, but it does have to end up being a finished book. I must remind myself that perfectionism is not the point at this point. It will be ready to be read and critiqued. Then I'll go from there.

I will not take on any other big projects before January 1. This ONE project is my priority.

You can all bug me about it if you want. You have my permission.

[Taking a big breath as I post this]

Dreams vs. Excuses [Quote]

By nicole.pierce.photography ♥

"If you really want something you’ll find a way to do it. If you don’t want it that bad, you’ll come up with excuses for why it can’t be done." Brittany Castanos

 via Quit Your Day Job: Daughters of Simone | The Etsy Blog

Does the movie of your life need a new writer?

Photo By Hal Dick

An interesting read:

"If they made a movie about your life, would it be titled, It’s a Won­der­ful Life? Or would Speed, You've Got Mail, or Nightmare on Elm Street be more fitting? Unfor­tu­nately, too many peo­ple are liv­ing lives like those movies that come out every sum­mer. You know, the over­hyped ones with big bud­gets, lots of action — and tired sto­ries with thin plots. Just because a movie costs a lot of money and has a lot of things going on doesn’t mean it’s a very good story. The same is true of your life...If you’re less than thrilled with the direction of your story, it is time to hire a new writer: YOU."

Check out the whole post here: How To Live A Better Story | Jungle of Life

Little things that improve my life

Often, it's accomplishing little things that make me feel the best about myself and my life. I came across this post at Real Simple yesterday and it's almost as if I wrote the list myself. These are things I aspire to, just as listed, but never do consistently. When I do them, life goes more smoothly and feels better. I've cut the list down to the basics; for details, see the original post. I'll keep working on these in 2011:

1. Nightly: change into pajamas an hour before going to bed. [This supports my main resolution of getting enough sleep]

2. Daily: put dirty dishes into the dishwasher immediately after a meal

3. Nightly: make and pack lunches for the next day while making dinner.

4. Daily: shred, recycle, and/or trash junk mail immediately upon entering the house.

5. Daily: hang up your coat immediately upon entering the house.

6. Every Sunday: Plan out meals for the week and create a grocery list. 

Hanging 2011 on one resolution

Photo by Béni Rivière

Happy New Year!

I have one main resolution this year: Get enough sleep. 

Sleep deprivation affects your health, your weight, your looks and your happiness. I feel like all my other goals for 2011 hang on getting enough sleep.

Mainly, those goals are to continue the projects I focused on in 2010. Last New Year's Day, I cleaned out the garage so that we could finally get BOTH vehicles in out of the winter storms and that started a domino effect of cleaning out, purging and rearranging that is still going on. I've made a lot of progress (I keep having to remind myself of that) but I've still got a lot of work to do.

I've signed up for my writers group's Finish The Damn Book Challenge. That means my writing goal this year is to have a book ready to land on an agent's or editor's desk by the end of the year. I also have plans in the works for a second (focused, less personal) blog - more on that later.

I also want to be less of a grumpy unhealthy hermit. (We all want that, really)

I think the key to all of this is getting enough sleep.

Once upon a time, before I "grew up" I went to bed at 10pm pretty much no matter what. Short of a real emergency, if stuff wasn't done by 10, too bad. It didn't get done. (This is where my mother points out that I may have gone to bed at 10, but I often read until after midnight. Fine, if I'm awake enough to do it, but now I'm lucky to read two pages at night before my eyes droop shut). Too often these days, I stay up way too late just wasting time on trivial things that don't further any of my goals, simply because I'm desperately looking for "some relaxing time, dammit!" That time would be better spent getting some real sleep (or at least reading a book), so I can get some real things done the next day.

I also have an "anti-resolution" of sorts: I'm not going to plant a garden this year. It's one of those things I think I should enjoy, but I don't have the time and energy to commit to it. I get delusions of grandeur when planting every spring, which goes from "a couple tomato plants" to tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, celery, cucumbers, melons, and on and on. The first really hot week of summer sends me inside to hide and before I know it, the garden is over-run with weeds and I spend the rest of the summer in futile attempts to get ahead of the weedy onslaught. This doesn't really hang on the more sleep thing, but it will take away from the guilt of the "things not done" at the end of the day.

Aim high!