In terms of happiness. creativity, and productivity, 2015 has been an amazing year for me! I feel like I’ve transformed myself in so many positive ways, and at the same time like I’m at the beginning of something new, having set up a solid foundation for success in my career as a writer and entrepreneur.
I’m so very thankful.
While I haven’t yet begun my in-depth look at 2015 – that will have to wait until after the Christmas festivities are done – looking at this Round’s goals is giving me lots of food for thought. I have plenty of input to think about as I plan for 2016, beginning with Round 1. I’ll post again, later on, with more of a year-long summary. My intention today is to take a look at this particular Round of Words.
So, let’s dive right into the goals review, shall we?
2015 Row 80 Round 4 Goals
Complete and publish current nonfiction WIP. Finish first draft of Daily Spiritual Practice (DSP) book. Revise, edit and proofread. Hand final draft off to BlackLion for formatting. Do photoshoot for cover. Hit publish in November. DONE! We didn’t manage to hit the publish button until December, but still, it’s out there. I’ve been getting some very positive responses, and have sold several books, without much promotion yet. I have a book signing scheduled for next month. Oh, and a funny story – the book cover we submitted had a word wrong in the subtitle, and I didn’t even notice until we got the proof copy in the mail! I guess I was looking at my lovely daughter (the cover model for the book) and forgot to proof the words. No harm done, though.
Work on revising and editing The Door Is the Key book 1 (TDITK1).Finish the first pass of revisions using Rock Your Revisions. Complete re-writes and added scenes as necessary. Do the first complete proof-reading edit. BlackLion and I haven’t worked on this project for several months. It is definitely part of the plan for 2016, though.
Re-read draft of Patterns in the Void and make initial revision notes. Haven’t gotten to this yet, either. It’ll show up in my 2016 goals.
Continue my craft & business learning. Keep up with all homework and calls for my SASS Circle coaching program. Read at least 3 books about writing and/or ethical marketing & promotion. Check out a couple of writer podcasts. Keep notes on ideas to use, and begin implementing them. Make plans for Feline Dreamers for 2016. Thanks to the SASS Circle biz coaching I signed up for this fall, this goal is progressing very well. I haven’t done as much reading or podcast-listening on my own, because I’ve been busy doing the homework for my program. I’m keeping up well with that, and I just downloaded a bunch of writing books on my Kindle, so I’ll have plenty of reading material for this winter.
Complete various behind-the-scenes marketing tasks: Add my author name domain to my website(s). Add a Call to Action (CTA) to my Cultivating Self-Love e-book. Create weekday Fae Musings e-mails for our Feline Dreamers subscribers. Add new folks to both of our mailing lists. We’ve added new folks to the mailing lists, but other than that, I still need to do these few simple things. I’ll try to get to them early in the next Round.
Do my ROW 80 sponsor duties. Write an inspiring article to share. Visit my peeps each week and leave comments. DONE. It’s been fun being a sponsor, though I’m taking Round 1 off so I can focus on my biz program stuff. I’m sure I’ll get back to it at some point.
De-clutter and organize my life, creating beautiful spaces. Clean and organize my upstairs desk and filing cabinets. Continue to de-clutter and beautify our shared living spaces. Paint the living room, kitchen, and stairwell. Still in progress, but wow! The house looks fantastic! The shared living spaces have been de-cluttered, freshly painted, and rearranged. I love it so much! Next up: work on my bedroom, create a photo gallery in the stairwell, and de-clutter our storage spaces in the eaves and basement.
Focus on blogging. Post to my Starcat’s Corner blog at least twice per week, Feline Dreamers every other week, and on this blog twice per week. Write ROW 80 guest post to inspire fellow authors (and be a good sponsor!). Write, edit, and submit guest blog posts for Kind Over Matter, Facing North, and possibly other sites. Start and keep a running list of blog post ideas, drafts, and picture ideas. I haven’t done as much blogging on my personal sites as I’d like. I want to get back to a more consistent schedule. I have kept up with this ROW 80 writing blog. I also wrote monthly for Kind Over Matter, and got asked back for 2016! So that’s really cool. I’ve done some book reviews for Facing North, but I may taper that off a bit, too, because of the intensity of my biz program.
Make inspiring art and music. Practice zentangling. Make cards for the holidays. Create new scrapbook pages and art journal pages. Take nature photographs to use on my websites and blog posts. Practice drumming regularly. This has been sort of sporadic, while I’ve been busy with other stuff. I’ve been making holiday cards lately, I took a bunch of nature photos this summer, and I do drum practice as gigs require. I’ll probably continue most of these into next Round, because art and music feed and inspire my writing.
Expand my spiritual awareness and the integration of all aspects of my life. Pay attention to my dreams and keep records of them. Set intentions before sleep and upon waking. Meditate and do my chakra clearing daily. DONE – but never really finished. It’s been going super well, though. My spiritual practices are my foundation, and I really love how they are integrated so well into my life now.
Enhance my physical health. Devote time to daily exercise, including but not limited to walking, yoga, dancing, and swimming. Look into membership at the pool for the winter. Stop eating sugar. Eat less in general. Well, my annual checkup at my doctor’s office went well – I got a good report and I”m in terrific health for a 40-something. On the other hand, I haven’t really lost much weight, which was part of the goal. I have been using the pool, which is fantastic. I’ll continue this goal.
GRACEfully invite ease, purpose, and kindness into my daily life. Do things I love: write in my journal, read, do yoga, dance, spend time with loved ones, and express my gratitude. Yes, yes, and more yes. Not much yoga lately, but my body is craving it again, so it’s time to cycle it back into my routine. Otherwise, it’s going great. GRACE was my word of the year, and what a year! I’m very grateful.
