Not Another End of the Year Blog Post

I know a lot of people enjoy the end of the year lists that are so popular online, in print and on television. I’m not one of them. It’s just not something that holds my interest.

I’ve learned over the years that it’s probably not a good idea for me to make New Year’s resolutions. I tend to set the goal way too high, like resolving never to eat chocolate again when I have never been able to successfully give it up for Lent, without breaking the goal down into a plan to increase my chances of success.

Since now is the time of year when we take time to evaluate where we are and make plans for the future, it makes sense to include our professional goals too. I was recently asked in an interview about my writing goals. I realized that I’ve been basically flying by the seat of my pants for the last few years. I’ve been working steady, which I am certainly not complaining about, and my business has been growing – also good news.

While there are things that I have thought about that I would like to do, I haven’t made a definite plan of action, and that’s the difference between goals and wishes. I’m also more conscious of the fact that I’m the person in control of my professional destiny, not what’s happening “out there.”

While New Year’s Eve may be a time of looking forward to the future and the possibilities that it brings, you don’t have to wait until December 31 to do that. Every new day is a fresh start, and if we don’t like where we are or the way our career is going, then we can do something about it – starting from where we are right now with what we have at our disposal.

It may mean making a wish list of clients you would like to work with and following through by contacting one a week. You may decide to take a course to learn more about a particular aspect of writing or put together an ebook or a report that you can sell and get away from the “dentist” model of writing (drill and bill). Whatever you decide, so long as it fits your goals and definition of success, you have made the right choice.

There is no better time than right now to start creating the writing career and the life that you want. 2010 is the start of a new decade and it brings 365 fresh starts. What are you doing to do with them?