2018 Goals

We’ve reached the point where every blogger is setting their 2018 goals. Last year I threw mine together in a very slap-dash way, but am happy to say that I’m still pretty happy with the way 2017 turned out. But for 2018, I wanted to be very thoughtful about my aims, so I’ve been thinking about them for a couple of months.

I wanted my goals to be realistic, but still slightly difficult to achieve. I wanted them to be measurable, yet flexible if I have a bad week here and there. Because I work in a mental health center and help case managers write treatment plans for clients that are specific and measurable, I naturally created my own “treatment plan” for the year.

Reading Goals

I want to read at least 65 books this year and tackle an intimidating classic.

• I will read 1.5 books a week.
  • As long as I’ve finished one book and am through a good chunk of a second each week, then I will be on pace to finish the year strong.
• I will read at least 500 pages a week.
  • Last year I set the goal to read 300 pages a week and blew that out of the water. I decided that I would increase that to 500 pages a week to give myself a real challenge. The reason I count page numbers is to give myself a little something to fall back on if I decide to read a bunch of MASSIVE books. Obviously, my book total wouldn’t be as high, but knowing that I was reading a lot of pages would soften that blow!
• I will read at least 12 nonfiction books.
  • Last year I set the goal for 6 and reached it! I’ve decided to try for one nonfiction book a month on average, which might be a bit of stretch of me.
• I will read one chapter of War and Peace a day.
  • War and Peace is the most intimidating book that I can think of. It’s massive and about 365 chapters – perfect for a one chapter a day challenge! I heard on a podcast that the chapters are very short – like, 5 minutes. I can spend 5 minutes a day on this book and finish it within a year? Sign me up! And I’m already thinking of the tracking layouts that I can create in my planner, which is half the fun for projects like these!

Writing Goals

I want to make writing a priority in my life.

• I will resume my daily journaling.
  • Since my pregnancy, getting up early enough to journal has been difficult. My goal is to write in my journal every single day, at least until this new baby is born.
• I will write at least 3 blog posts a week.
  • I set a similar goal last year and did pretty well. I had dry spells, but that’s to be expected. The biggest challenge I see with this one is going to be one of my new blogging guidelines: I am NOT going to blog about every single book that I read in 2018. I will probably post no more than one book “review” a week and will focus on the bookish and writing life. That is going to be HARD for me!
• Three days a week, I will spend 1 hour on writing projects that are not related to my blog.
  • I am going to make progress on my dream, people!

And there you have it! I have other 2018 goals, but I won’t bore them with you here. They might crop up here and there, but I’m sure most people aren’t interested in me eating vegetables – I know I’m not!

Are you setting any 2018 goals? Or are you being a free ranger and focusing on what feels right? Is that a new thing for you?