When you were kid, did you ever hear a word and think it meant something else? There were two that stick out in my mind. The first was a prayer we used to say at dinner time where we said, "Let us thank Him for our food." I always wondered why we thanked God for the salad (even though we didn't always have salad) but not the rest of the meal? The other word I mixed up as a kid was New Year's Resolution. The first year I remember hearing about them, I thought they were New Years Revolutions.
When you think about it, New Year's Resolutions can be "revolutions." I quit smoking in 1997 after making a New Year's Resolution that year. That lifestyle change was pretty revolutionary to me at the time. I didn't start that project until April of that year. In 1998, I made a resolution to return to school to finish my bachelor's degree. I accomplished that in May of that year. Both years, I knew in January what I wanted to accomplish and I knew that January wouldn't be a good time to start working towards those goals.
Working towards goals and projects don't always have to start at the New Year to be successful. Even if you do create New Year's Resolutions and resolve to start working on them right away, don't get discouraged when things don't work out the way you want, you have the whole year to accomplish most goals.
If you have made a resolution to get your novel done this year, remember you have the whole year to do it in. Don't get discouraged if work is busy right now or other personal projects are getting in the way of your writing (refer to one of my posts about routines to help with this, maybe?). I made resolution last year to finish A Place to Call Their Own. I haven't come anywhere near finishing it, but had I not made a resolution last year, I don't know if I would have eight chapters written right now.
If nothing else, this New Year has helped me re-examine my routines and goals and make sure that they are workable within my current schedule. Remember, set goals and routines, but constantly revise them to make sure they are workable for you.
What about you, what New Year's "Revolutions" are you working on?
