Tip 19: Beyond resolutions
Reflecting on your writing journey in 2023 and crafting achievable goals for 2024. ⭐
Whoop! It’s 2024. Happy New Year 🎉
We sincerely hope the coming year will be the best ever for you, for everyone you hold dear and of course, for your writing.
New Year is often a time for hope and optimism. Filled with a sense of a fresh start, 1 new page and clean sheet, it’s a motivating time for setting new, challenging goals.
But before you get going with 2024’s shiny new writing project, have a think about the year that’s passed.
How was 2023 for you?
Did you achieve your writing goals last year?
It’s fine if you didn’t - but now’s the time to learn. Ambition is great - it fills you full of the starting energy you need - but those ambitions must also be realistic.
Now, I know ‘be realistic’ is a bit, well… yawn, but it gets results.
Accept your humanity. When you’re mindful of your other responsibilities and priorities besides writing, then you’re more likely to find a routine that fits with your life.
Ask yourself:
Did I make progress with my writing last year? Did I achieve the output I wanted? Did anything change or improve about my practice? If so, what?
Were there times in my year that went better for me than others? Did I write regularly and easily at some points and struggle at others? When were these times? What was different about them?
As I wrote across the year, what got in the way? Were the obstacles I faced the same-old, same-old ones or were they pesky new interruptions?
Take a moment to consider your answers. Accept them, celebrate your progress, perhaps forgive yourself when you got stuck, and leave your baggage behind. That’s the kind of fresh start we all need.
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Now ask yourself:
Was I realistic about my writing goals? How can this inform my goals for this year?
How can I recreate the productive and positive times again this year?
How can I minimise the obstacles I might face? How can I manage them better?
What is in your control?
In writing and in life, there will always be ups and downs, moments of clarity and moments of befuddlement.
Some of it won’t be in your control - but some of it will.
Before you launch into your new year of writing take a moment to think about what IS in your control. What action can you take to make 2024 your best writing year? Remember, it’s always better to do something very small and build on it.
Thank you for reading Breakthroughs and Blocks, we look forward to supporting your writing this year.
Take care,
Chris and Bec
New Year writing RESET: Doors close Friday🚪
Want to write in 2024? Set a new intention and make a fresh start by joining our New Year RESET course.
The waiting list is also open for our summer RESET course if the time’s not right for you now.
Build a habit that lasts, finish what you start. Find out more here.
Hengchen Dai, Katherine L. Milkman, Jason Riis (2014) ‘The Fresh Start Effect: Temporal Landmarks Motivate Aspirational Behavior’. Management Science 60(10):2563-2582.
I had forgotten that we'd written this before Christmas. It landed in my inbox as it did for everyone else. Past Bec was very wise - present Bec needed this advice! I'll be reflecting and figuring out what has worked, before setting any writing resolutions.