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With the first of the New Year finally here, it’s time to re-evaluate the year behind us and decide what can be done in the year to come to improve our lives. We should always be working on ways to improve ourselves on a day to day basis, but it seems wise to decide on the long term goals at the start of a New Year. While I was fairly pleased with the things I accomplished in 2010, I know there are several things I can work on to make 2011 even better.

In 2011, I hope to achieve the following things:

Writing:

– Complete my current WIP by June and by complete I mean ready to shop around with. I’m not that far away from its completion (maybe 40,000 words?) and if I devote myself to it more than I did in 2010 there is no reason this shouldn’t be possible.

– In order to continue to improve my writing ability I plan to use the Webster’s Vocabulary Builder that I got for Christmas regularly. There are 25 units in the book, which divided across the year would mean I need to do at least 2 units a month. Within each unit there are 6 quizzes. If I study the book 3 times a week (doing 3 quizzes) I feel confident that I will greatly increase my use of new words while writing this year.

– Write more short stories. Being a part of an actual critique group now has drastically changed my self esteem when it comes to writing and sharing short stories. I hope that as a group we will set out to write several short stories throughout the year to share with each other as well as online.

– Begin my next WIP. What that will be, I’m not entirely sure. There are several stories that scream for my attention, but I refuse to entertain them until it’s actually time for fear that they’ll interrupt the current WIP. When the time comes, I’m sure one of them will be loud enough to let me know they’re next.

Weight:

For a very long time I’ve been struggling with my weight and in the last year in particular it has basically spiraled out of control. As a result I’ve got a lot of work to do, but I’m okay with this. Getting my weight under control and being healthier overall needs to happen now, while I’m still fairly young and capable to doing this. I don’t want to wait a couple more years to take it seriously and then be in such a bad place it feels impossible. I also don’t want to look back and regret not changing when I wanted to just because I was too lazy. This is the year I will “get my sexy back” (not that I was ever sexy, but you get the point).

My plan is to lose 60 lbs. by September (because that is when my sister’s wedding is) and this amount is completely reasonable in this time frame. That would average about 6 1/5 lbs. a month which shouldn’t be too hard if I actually stick to a stricter diet (which means a heck of a lot less fast food and carbohydrates) and daily exercise (with cool things like my new body ball).

To make sure I see this goal through I intend on taking a picture of myself at the start of every month as well as logging my measurements and weight along with the picture. At the end of 2011 I hope to be able to do an “In Review” post that features my weight loss and share that progress in the form of pictures with you all. Hopefully the change will be drastically different from start to finish.

Reading:

For the most part I was able to read about 4 books a month last year. Sure there were some months where there were less and others where there were more, but overall I averaged about 4 books a month. I feel this is a reasonable amount of books to read and still be able to do all of the other things I need to work on so I will shoot for a similar reading goal this year.

Since I already have enough new books in my possession to achieve this goal my plan of attack for that To-Be-Read pile is to blow through the thinner, standalone novels first (while I work on finishing my own book), and then jumping into the series that I know once I begin I won’t be able to put down until the series completion. My main concern when it comes to reading is finding a healthier balance between reading and writing and I hope that my “plan” will help create one.

Also reading related I hope to return to reading my Bible more regularly. I always seem to forget about the comfort it brings me until I’m so distraught that I’m reaching for it out of desperation. I’d rather keep up with it on a regular basis and maybe by doing so I won’t find myself in such a low place as often.

Those are my 3 main goals for 2011. I’m sure there will be smaller less important ones along the way, but before any of those are attended to these 3 must be met. I refuse to face failure when it comes to these things and I truly hope this time next year I can gloat about my success. Wish me luck!

LJ friends, care to share what kind of resolutions you’ve made for 2011?

Peace – Sarah

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