This year I’m struggling a bit with how to express my goals. It’s not that I don’t know what I want to accomplish, it’s how do I say it in a blog post? I’m feeling more focused, and yet ambitious, this year. I plan to hit a six figure income and that requires focus. But it is also ambitious, since I barely cracked at five figure income last year.

Anyway, I’ve finally decided not to go it alone and have hired a business coach. It was the best investment, and I’ve only been working with her for a couple of months. She’s really helped me narrow down the scope of what I want to accomplish, thus reducing some of the overwhelm I’ve experienced in the past few years.

Also, since it was time to get a new phone contract, I got a new music phone. I load it up with all the teleseminars I download from various sources and listen to them when I walk the dog. This, too, has greatly improved my business sense.

So, on with the goals. This time, I’m going to break it down into broad areas of my life. You might consider this, too. It really helps compartmentalize things and makes goals easier to digest. The 10 major areas of life are:
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Something I am learning about my annual goals process is that they are a lot more fluid than I thought. Life changes so much in a year that those things you set to accomplish for the year can cease to have meaning just a few months later and new goals take their place.

A case in point. For 2007, one of my goals was to update my wardrobe. Although I did buy a new pair of pants, not much was done toward this goal until this month. Since I moved back to Phoenix, I could, again, take advantage of the 50% off everything sale and buy some new cloths for cheap. Of course, this wouldn’t have been much of an issue if I hadn’t gotten laid off in April and injured in May, making my job search a bit difficult.
GOAL GRADE: C+

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Good Bye 2006 — Hello 2007!

Well, its that time of year again. The time I expose goals of the year past to scrutiny by blog passers-by and lay down my plans for the coming year.

2006 In Review

I was quite ambitious last year. I wanted to:

• Put out four issues of The Genre Traveler, which I did.
• Write up a business plan for DragonWyze Communications, which I started but did not complete.
• Re-design the websites for The Genre Traveler and DragonWyze Communication, which I started but did not complete.
• Produce two tours for The Genre Traveler. I worked on one, but it didn’t fly so I decided to table the whole concept until I’d grown the audience more.
• Build out the website for Carma’s Cookery and make all my cook booklets available for sale. I’m part-way through this^*, but still have a ways to go.
• Complete two of my short stories and start marketing them to potential publishers. I didn’t even touch these.

There was also one big goal that I didn’t share last year — to find a job in California and move back. I didn’t find the job until I got here, but I did move in October to Southern California. And I smile every day.

Goals for 2007

I’m doing my goal planning a little differently this year. Did you know that it is not only important to have your goals clearly in mind and written down, but to have a clear plan of action to achieve them written out, too?

I’ve worked out the first part, writing down my goals. Now I’m working on the plan of action. I hope to have that done within a week or two.

On with the goals:

• Update My Wardrobe: Most of my socks have holes in them. My sweaters are getting frayed at the edges. And, my wardrobe is a few years out of date.
• Loose Weight: If I loose 2lbs a week all year, I’ll be at my goal of 140lbs before 2007 is up. That is very achievable.
• Go to a Chiropractor: The curvature in my neck is pretty much gone and I am in pain everyday, not to mention the recurring and thoroughly annoying dizzy spells.
• Catch Up with All My Friends: I was so miserable in Maryland that I pretty much withdrew from life. Its not that I haven’t thought of my friends, its that I haven’t reached out to them. I plan to remedy that this year.
• Take The Genre Traveler to the Next Level: I’ve got lots of exciting ideas for TGT this year. If all things go well, I’ll have paid back all my investments into my business and made some money to boot, come December.
• Finish Launching Carma’s Cookery: Get that website finished and those E-books posted. Then market, market, market.

Well, that’s it in a nutshell. Have you set your goals down to paper yet? Remember, its not enough to have a New Year’s Resolution in your head. Get it down on paper (you don’t need to share it with anyone) and then develop a plan of action to meet it.

Here’s hoping you have a wondrous, fruitful, prosperous and successful New Year!

Wow, I can’t believe it’s been so long since I last posted to this blog. Is this a trend? I hope not. I’ve been so busy this past month:

• Trying my best to post 3x/week to my The Genre Traveler Blog

• Launching a blog about East African tourism and conservation
• Trying to up the blog posts to my pumpkin blog
• Attending Worldcon – what a great experience!
• Turning 40
• Cheating on my diet
• Trying to fit in time to write the next issue of The Genre Traveler due the last week in September (I got to interview “The Coffin Lady” for this issue)
• Packing up for my move at the end of October
• Trying to launch Carma’s Cookery, a website devoted to kitchen creativity and gift giving. My first e-book, Bonkers for Bundt Cakes is just about ready
• Attending to Sprocket who got an ear infection while I was away at Worldcon and has been overrun by hotspots. The poor thing could be called Patch, she’s got so many bald spots.
• Learning how to use my new digital camera – look forward to more original photos taken by yours truly to be posted at all my blogs and websites

Once we’ve settled into our new digs in November, I hope to have more time to devote to Random Thoughts and my other projects. Until then, I think I’m resigned to being a head with its chicken cut off.

My goodness! I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had time to post anything here. So, here are some quick highlights about the last couple of weeks.

My Diet:
I’ve been cheating a lot lately. I’ve been craving chocolate and have been giving into the temptation. However, I haven’t cheated so bad that I gained wait. No, I’ve just pretty much stayed the same, loosing one pound as of Friday.

Work:
My boss went on vacation over the Independence Day week, so I took over a project while she was gone. This project requires me to start work at 6am, which means I needed to get up by 4am. Ugh! I’ve been so exhausted. I know I’ve been a danger on the road, but what was I to do? And, on top of that, I found it hard to get to sleep by 8pm (which would give me the needed 8 hours of sleep), in part because the sun was still up! Only one more day and I’ll be free of this horrible schedule.

Freelancing:
The Toastmaster, the magazine for members of Toastmasters International, has accepted on spec a story I’ve pitched them about how evoking heroes can help you succeed in life. This means, I write the story, send it in and if they like it, they’ll buy it. But if they don’t, they are under no obligation. It’s not the idea arrangement, but if I can get in it will look really good on my resume and will pay fairly well.

Summer Vacation:
I’m so excited! I’m going to WorldCon (the premiere science fiction convention, held in Anaheim this year) for my 40th birthday! I was able to get a package deal – round trip air faire, hotel and rental car – for under $710. What’s better is that the hotel not only is walking distance from the con, but also has a microwave and refrigerator. So taking along my Nutrisystem meals will be a snap!

Well, that’s about it for now. Until next time … Live Long and Prosper.