It’s A New Year With New Goals
By Debra Sennefelder
Happy New Year!
On behalf of the Stiletto Gang I hope you and your family had a wonderful holiday season and a wonderful start to 2023.
I’m coming off the holidays, a book release, hitting the halfway mark of a first draft while preparing for the release of book one in a new series. Oh, and add in goal planning sessions for the new year. Yeah, it’s been hectic.
I enrolled in an online course last month to help shore up my goal setting and time management for this new year. I’ve been doing a pretty good job the past few years but I have to admit that the past two years have been rough for numerous reasons. That’s why I decided to seek outside help. And so far, I’ve been really happy with the course and the shift in mindset of how I look at my day and how many hours I have to devote to writing and the business of writing. I also made the decision to pair down my commitments and the number of goals I set for the year and for each quarter.
While reviewing my goals, business and personal, I realized that there was something missing not only in the list for 2023 but had been missing from 2022 also. Reading. I’d let that habit slip away and I realized that I missed reading. I missed the ritual of regularly sitting down with a book I’d been dying to read with a cup of tea and Connie curled up next to me. So many nights were spent watching one too many reality shows or re-runs of Hallmark mysteries. Mornings were a rush to get the day started so I could hit my word count goal. I want that to change in 2023.
In order for that to change I’ve made a personal goal to read 24 books. That will be two books a month and I think that’s doable. I’ve even bought a journal to document my reads this year. This is a first for me and I’m looking forward to journaling about the books I’m going to read. I want to read books from: my current TBR collection (physical and e-book), my local library and there are some new releases I’m interested in. So, I want to make sure that the 24 books I’ll read this year are a mix from those three lists. Having this plan is definitely making me excited about reading this year.
Have you set a goal or resolution that you’re really excited about? If so, please share in the comments.
SLEUTHING IN STILETTO is the latest Resale Boutique Mystery series and is available from your favorite retailer.
Debra Sennefelder is the author of the Food Blogger Mystery series and the Resale Boutique Mystery series. She lives and writes in Connecticut. When she’s not writing, she enjoys baking, exercising and taking long walks with her Shih-Tzu, Connie. You can keep in touch with Debra through her website, on Facebook and Instagram.
I try not to make resolutions, but I learned about intentions and that is a better way to go.
I admire your attempt at getting more organized, Debra. Making time for reading is tough, especially when you have your own manuscript nagging you to GET IT DONE! Last year I read only books by colleagues I wanted to support, and a few for two book clubs I’m part of. And though I enjoyed most of those (just finished a 500+pager for the January club selection that was a slog), there are so many more I want to read. Best of luck to you in 2023.
I’m happiest when I include reading in my schedule. That’s why, when I finish a project, I make reading time. Otherwise, it is catch as you can. Hopefully, your new planning will work well for you and some of the aspects of your life that have been so draining will ease.
Reading is such a joy in my life. I read a lot, but not what most people necessarily read. I start with two newspapers – yes, the old-fashioned paper kind – every day except Sunday. Then I read a bunch of science articles from magazines or online publications that I subscribed to. And I read a couple of novels a month.
What I need tons of help with is organizing myself to be more productive. Your blog has inspired me to do that.
Thanks and Happy New Year!
I could have written this post, myself, Debra. I was so busy in 2022, I had to let reading for pleasure go, and I realized how bereft my life is without reading books. I’ve been diving into my TBR pile (which has grown almost to the ceiling), and I’m a much happier person. Here’s to great reads (and the authors who give them to us).
I find I read in spurts, several books in a row, then nothing for a few weeks. I also tend to read outside my own genre at least half the time. For the last few years, I’ve been reading quite a lot of historical fiction, both mysteries and non-mysteries.
I’d like to get more organized. And read more books, too. 24 sounds like a great goal.