You Never Know What The Year Will Bring | Part 2

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Take a look at the first part of this three-part series:

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"Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible." - Tony Robbins, author and motivation speaker.

I remember fireworks going off when I first decided on my goals for the new year just as I did the year before. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I could see this hazy vision of what the future would hold, a growth and as cliche as it sounds, a phoenix rising from the ashes of a rough end to 2023.

What I didn't see was everything else - the praise, the achievements, the success. I still can't quite believe even though I can clearly see it.

Last year, I didn't really see myself as a writer, even though I considered myself one. It was like I was dipping my toes in, slowly entering the pool. Now I'm swimming through the waters with so many amazing creators, accomplishing things I never thought I would.

That's the point of goals, stacking them on top of each other to reach new heights.

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At the beginning of this year, I had six goals.

• Write in two new communities.
• Write a fanfiction piece.
• Publishing my work because I'm proud of it.
• Learn more about different types of poetry.
• Publish a new book.
• Rewrite a new piece.

No, I didn't accomplish them all. One, publishing a new book, I didn't expect to accomplish this year, but I was able to scratch off three, maybe four in the days of the year, of the five remaining ones off.

Let's talk a little about each one.

Write in two new communities. I wrote in a few new communities this year, but the biggest part of this goal was to do so unprompted. Here are my dips in the shallow end of certain communities. The ones that are starred are not part any challenges or prompts, official or unofficial.

01 - The Necessity That Is Social Media*

Horror - In the Scream House, Glitch

Humans - I am more than a color

Styled - I'm glad I waited until after high school to care*

Wander - Flatlander on the Hill

Next year, I would like to do better about doing more unprompted work. I've been making a list of few ideas, so I plan on working off that some.

Write a fanfiction piece. Although I haven't completed this one yet, I am in the process of working on something. I will say this, it is proving harder than I thought it was going to. I know how I want the story to progress, but the beginning is giving me some trouble. Anyways, I'm still hopeful to have it done before the new year, or at the latest, the beginning of next year.

Publish my work because I'm proud of it. This was probably the hardest one since I am my worst critic. I wanted to let myself feel excited, not dread or stress, about hitting that publish button. It also goes into wanting to always know I write because I love to do it, so if a piece doesn't get the response I thought it would, I am not disappointed.

Learn more about different types of poetry. I even have a couple of favorites, though I don't think one's an official type. The first is a nonet, a nine-line poem starting with nine syllables in the first line and decreasing by one syllable per line, ending with a single syllable in the final line. The other is what I've been calling a sensory poem, a five-line poem where each line is dedicated to one of the five senses.

Rewrite a old piece. I've tried, on multiple occasions. But, goodness, it seems impossible. If anyone has any tips on this, please let me know in the comments, because I do want to try.

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So, yeah, like I said before, I didn't accomplish all of my initial goals this year.

That doesn't mean I failed.

Sometimes, certain goals take a little more time to reach than others. The important thing is you try, and you keep trying. For example, it was over a year after I first had the goal of placing in a challenge before it actually happened.

The lesson: be patient. Allow yourself to grow and don't beat yourself up when you don't reach goals at the time you think you should.

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Be on the lookout for the final part of this series, coming on the 31st. It will be a breakdown for the year.

With that in mind, what kind of things would you like to see on this breakdown? Let me know in the comments and I'll try to make it happen.