We have just nine days left before the new year begins. I'm wrapping up a few things, aside from presents for the kids, and slapping them under the proverbial Christmas tree to call it good for 2022.
Eh, it was an attempt at a metaphor.
In any event, I'm pretty excited to finish off this year. It's been a rough one for me on a lot of fronts, but I've still managed to keep the tops spinning. They're wobbling, but at least they're still standing.
That's probably one of the more important aspects of success, really. How you persevere when things get rough tells a lot about your character. If you're too eager to throw in the towel, you'll never accomplish the things you want most.
Remember: Never give up, never surrender!
I think one of my goals for the next year is to get so far ahead that I'm able to take a week or two off during the holidays. It would be nice to sit back and relax for longer than a day for a change. But until then, I'll keep doing what I must to get to where I want to be.
Excited to Start 2023
I have a lot of goals and aspirations for next year. Although I've dubbed 2023 the "Year of the Book: Part 2," I still plan on developing everything else. I just want my books to take priority during the day.
For example, I still want my major blogs to start pulling in enough to afford an external office. That means fixing them up and cranking out some high-quality content. I can do this after working on my books.
I would like to put out more video content. Since this is scheduled after the blogs, they're more likely to get cut from the day if I run out of time. However, they're still on the schedule in the event everything runs smoothly throughout the day.
The point is that I've jazzed myself up to accomplish some great things. As I've told my son several times this year, it all comes down to attitude. Moping around and hating everything is focusing too much energy on the negative. This means you're less likely to see the positive opportunities that come because you're focused on seeing the bad things in life. You need to make the decision that you want to be happy. Sure, bad things happen quite often. But that doesn't mean those situations need to consume you forever.
Overall, everything in life is just temporary. How long those circumstances last is completely up to you.
Christmas Chaos Slowed Me Down, Some
I tried to maintain a good flow for productivity this week. Unfortunately, the holidays slowed me down a bit more than I would have liked. Still, I managed to get all of my shopping and wrapping done WAY ahead of my normal schedule.
Usually, I'm wrapping things up on Christmas Eve day.
I've had to deal with a few minor emergencies from clients and kids, which also decreased production time. But at least I was able to solve a few problems.
At some point today, I need to get the Fiat on the road and do some food shopping. Thanks to the winter storm this week, there are four to five inches of snow outside. Since it hasn't been over 4 degrees all week, none of that has melted. That makes for a fun drive in a sports car.
Sure, situations are kind of throwing a wrench in the works for what I wanted to do this week. But I'm not going to let that control my emotions or stress out. It's all part of life. Not everything is going to be sunshine and rainbows. You simply need to do your best to maneuver through the chaos.
What Can I Do in a Week?
As of this morning, I am still 32,112 words shy of breaking last year's word count record. That means I'll need at least an average of 3,568 words per day. Now, to some, that may sound like a lot. For me, it's an average Tuesday.
For one thing, I have no shortage of projects I can work on. Blogs, videos, books, clients...they all need and want content. On a normal day, I can easily crank out 2200 before lunch. The hard part is, though, trying to do so while balancing everything else I need to do before the end of the year.
On the plus side, I'm going to easily break my record for the number of words written in a single month. This was set back in October when I finished the first draft of Kingmaker. This month, I've done a lot of client work and book writing to surpass the record by several thousand. So, I'd still call December a win no matter what happens.
This next week, I'll work on putting the finishing touches on my new schedule for the year. This has been working out incredibly well over the past week or two. I'm still jockeying tasks around a bit, but it's the overall layout that I'm really liking. Especially since it helps me remember to get up and exercise periodically throughout the day.
This is why I like working on my plans for the new year back in November. It gives me plenty of time to set priorities for projects, work on hammering out a realistic schedule, and make adjustments if they're needed. And this time around, I think I nailed it. But we'll have to see. Life has a way of happening when you least expect it.
Wrapping Up the First Chapter in VII
The plan today is to finish the first chapter of rewriting VII. I've expanded the original story by nearly 4,000 words already. So, VII is definitely going to be a much longer book than I thought it would be.
Then, I'll wait for my "editor" to go through the manuscript before I upload it to Wattpad. She's usually pretty fast, so, I might have it up for Christmas. That's because I might need to make a few edits and changes before the story goes live.
As soon as it's up, though, I'll share the link on YouTube and Twitter.
I'm very excited to finish VII. It's something I've been working on since 2016 and is symbolic of me changing my mindset about myself as an author. I've had the hardest time having any kind of faith in my abilities when it comes to creative writing. I've started and thrown away more stories than I can count, and each one earned me a great deal of grief from those who read them.
Since publishing A Freelancer's Tale, I made the decision to finish every project. This includes things that have been sitting on the back burner for many years.
It's funny, in a way. I know I am an incredible freelance writer. I've made thousands of clients happy across the globe and constantly put in maximum effort into every client's project. I've made a successful career out of writing, have my own house, and a great life, overall. But when it comes to the creative side of me, it's a different story. I'm getting much better at trusting myself, but it's still a different world from the one I've lived in for a decade.
I'm going to make the next year something memorable for myself. Sure, I might not sell billions of copies of the next three books. But the idea is to actually finish what I've started and grow to become something I've wanted since I was nine years old.
An author.
It all starts with putting in the effort to write, learn, and grow. Remember what I said about perseverance? Nothing is a failure as long as you're willing to learn from the experience to improve your chances for the next attempt.
Finishing Up Organizing My Weeks
As I've said, I am going to spend next week organizing the projects I want to see completed in 2023. This means wrapping up some research, setting aside R&D time for the blogs and videos, and making sure I can remain productive throughout the day.
For instance, I want to review more writing apps and online tools for authors. This means I'll need to make sure I have adequate time to give each one a thorough test drive. After all, I rarely write about a product or service if I haven't used it.
I'm pretty close to having as close to a perfect schedule as I can muster. There are just a few small things that I'll need to move around a bit. Regardless, I am confident that I'll start off 2023 doing some great things.
It's all about how you look at each, individual day. Sure, you can create long-term goals and aspirations. For example, you can say you want to write three books in 2023. But it's what you do with each day that will affect whether or not you'll achieve those dreams. Without some semblance of balance, you'll find yourself putting off writing the next book while saying to yourself, "eh, I'll do it tomorrow." Before you know it, the year has gone by and you put very little effort into seeing your plans through.
Will I be able to create a perfect balance in my day? That's laughable. But I'll do my best to make sure the things I want to accomplish in 2023 are of the highest priority. Not only do I have them scheduled in Asana, but I've also made statements to myself on my whiteboard on the wall directly in front of me. I've made a decision to do more next year, and now I'm taking the steps to make sure those things happen.
Have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Regardless of your religious background or traditional upbringing, I hope you have an awesome weekend. For me, the holidays are more centered around friends, family, and humanity in general. You don't have to be religious to appreciate the people around you or what the season represents.
Be safe and take care of yourself.