2018: Recap. Next up 2019.

It is 2019 and where has the time gone? Time is the most tremendous and greatest asset that each of us acquires in our lifetime. Every day we get deposited 1,400 minutes into our daily account, and we spend them throughout the day. By the end of the year each of us we will spend 525,600 minutes. That is a half million minutes per day, every day for a full year.

The question is, did I spend my allocated 2018 half million minutes wisely, effectively and did I make my 2018 goals.

The short answer is no.

The long answer is I handicapped myself. I allowed my anxiety, paranoia, and life got in the way of my goals.

I published four manuscripts in 2018, but my goal was for twelve manuscripts. I wrote between 200k to 350k words, but I didn’t keep track of my daily writing, and I am kicking myself in that regard. I have many books that are partially completed, but not published yet. It only matters when the button is pushed, and in order to push the button, I need to have the work in a publishable quality.

I have made mistakes along the way. I had published a book before it was ready, then removing it and scrapping it. I have published bad covers, lousy market copy, and other errors that I may not realize until it smacks me in the face.

Now, what is up for 2019? Am I going to limit my goals to something that I can get done?

This is me you are listening to. Remember one of my mantras?

If you don’t risk failure, then you don’t deserve success.

My goals for 2019.

1. Write 500,000 words in personal, non-school related projects.
2. Complete and publish Felix #2, Felix #3, Des O’Neal #1, Des O’Neal #2, Des O’Neal #3, Jovian Marines #1, Jovian Marines #2, Jovian Marines #3, Mech Warrior #1, Mech Warrior #2, Mech Warrior #3.
3. Correct cover for Felix #1.
4. Write four blog posts per month
5. Give Felix #1 and Tokyo Tempest #1 a proofread.
6. Complete and submit to market Terran Marine Raider short #1, Terran Marine Raider short #2, and RPG Death short.
7. Earn $1000.00 a month from novels.
8. Relaunch publishing company with a new, stronger name.
9. Get 1 client for editing services.

I have posted my goals on my cork board above my desk. They are staring me in the face every time I sit down at my desk, and I sit down at my desk a lot.

The break down of the goals.

Most of my goals will be completed by writing every day and completing and publishing the projects. The 500,000 words will finish the 11 books listed under number 2. Some of the books I have started, but not completed. I have started 7 of them. Again, in 2018, mistakes were made.

One of the mistakes was the cover for Felix the Swift: Phantom Sorcerer #1. The book is my strongest work published, and I feel that if I spend a bit of money I can get a stronger cover. The aim will be to rework the cover when I publish book 2.

I have dropped writing blog posts due to reasons, and it is a regret that I will correct.

I have noticed a few spelling errors in some of my books as well as a few misplaced commas. I will give the noted books a proofread and republish.

Some of the projects that I have been writing on is some short stories set in my science fiction world. I need to complete the stories and get them out on the market. There are a lot of indies publishing anthologies that I may be able to get them into.

Earning a monthly income from writing is a lofty goal, but if I can publish the books listed, there is a good chance that I can make that goal.

In regards to my publishing house name, I have never been happy with it. It is something that I need to think long and hard on, and a rebranding of it may be in the future. It may not be. We shall see what happens.

The last goal that I have deserves a blog post on its own, as well as a page with additional information. It is something that I strive towards, and I will go into it in the future.

Now the honest truth. Am I going to make my goals? They are very tall and very lofty. Plus I have a wife, two kids, and life to live. So am I going to make my goal?

At this moment, yes. I will make my goals. It is going to happen.

If you enjoy what I do and would like to help support me and my novels, feel free to buy me a coffee.

Waiting and dreams

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. ― Steve Jobs

Life has been compared to many things. Chocolate is the most famous that I can think of at the moment.

To me, life is a pile of sand running through your fingers. It dribbles through and before too long, it has disappeared into nothingness. One day you look around and realize that ten years have rolled by and your life is the same as it was ten years ago. The goals that you dreamed of, still undone.

There is never a good time for anything. There is never a good time to have a baby, to leave a job, or to write a book. The time is never right, and there is always something else that will come along that needs to be done first.

In the last post, I talked about dreams and goals.

Today I am going to talk about it again. I feel like it needs reinforcing. This topic is more important than people realize and it deserves a second blog post.

The statement that I get most often from people when I tell them that I am an indie-author is:

I would love to write a book, but I don’t have the time.

Or:

I will write my books… but later… when I am retired and I have time.

Life is a finite resource. You will only live for so long. And unlike other types of resources, we have no idea how long that we have left. That fact scares and encourages many people. It scares and inspires me. Like many people, there are many different things that I want to do before the inevitable comes.

The time to accomplish your goal is now.

Not tomorrow.

Not next week.

Now.

Stop procrastinating and do the things. If every day you do one thing that takes you that much closer to your goal, then eventually you will get that goal. It can be a small thing. If writing a book is your goal, write a page. If it is losing weight, then exercising that day will do it.

Every day and every decision must move you towards that goal. If you want to write a novel, binge watching Game of Thrones might be counterproductive. Going to the burger joint for a greasy fatty burger might also be counter to losing that weight.

The last point that I am going to make about this tonight is, ignore the naysayers. The toxic friends that have nothing good to say about your decisions. When I decided to move my family across the province so my wife could go to university, there was a handful of people that had nothing good to say about it. Those are ones that I have no interest in listening to. Don’t listen to what others have to say, just do the things that you want to do. You will have fewer regrets later if you do.

Until next time.

Stay Shiny.

Goals, Dreams, and Money

“Do what you have to do until you can do what you want to do.”

I am not sure where I heard that. It might have been from someone famous, but then again, it might have not. But over the last few weeks, it has resonated with me.

Today, I am going to talk about dreams and money.

Most people that I know have dreams of some kind. They are deep desires, and wishes of things that they want to accomplish. Some want to own their own house, some want to travel, some want to meet the perfect person and settle down. Some will tell everyone that they encounter about their dreams. Others will keep their dreams close to their chests. If they tell anyone, it may fly away and fail to happen.

Those that I have met that don’t have specific dreams have problems. You see, dreams and desires are goals. They keep us focused and moving forward. Dreams will allow us to see the light at the end of whatever tunnel that life is dragging us through. Without a goal, you become becalmed. Stuck in one place, without any direction. Dreams are fickle things, they seem like they are right at your fingertips one moment, then gone the next.

Dreams, you see, keep us sane.

Life comes at us hard and fast. We close our eyes and years have rolled by like sand through our fingers. We start work, blink three times and then realize that we have been working for the same company for five years. Yet nothing in our life has changed. We still live in the same crappy apartment paying rent, have a massive debt load, out of shape. All that has changed is things have gotten worse. Anxiety, depression spring up in our lives and stands like a roadblock.

I believe that having a dream, a goal, then keeping it in front of you. Focused on it, ever doing things to accomplish it will focus your life. You will be able to make decisions that go towards that goal. If you are planning on buying property and that is your goal, going on a vacation to the tropics is counterproductive. Going on an expensive vacation will not bring you closer to that goal. You can justify it to yourself, but it still won’t change things. People can justify many things if they put their mind to it.

By having a goal and making decisions towards that dream, you will accomplish it. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but one day, it will happen. Dreams also take sacrifice, commitment, and stamina. It takes an hour of bad decisions, made in the spur of the moment in the middle of a time of high stress and emotions to completely ruin all of the progress that took years to get to.

But not just any goal will do. Many people have abstract goals. They want to lose weight. Or make more money. Most people never think about their goal enough to break it into parts and pieces. It is too scary. Dreams are fickle, to think about it too much will cause it to scatter.

But dreams and goals need to be thought about. Plans need to be made. Steps need to be laid out. A goal that has steps is a more straightforward goal to make. If your goal is to lose weight, then having a step of going to the gym three times a week, every week, is a good step. Having a weight loss goal is secondary and the next step. Getting into the healthier habit is a better first step. If your goal is to earn more money to afford a house one day, then living within your means is an excellent first step. Cutting out unneeded expenses will take you that one step closer.

I have a dream.

It is a glorious dream, one that I am keeping close to my chest. But I am making decisions that will allow me to get to that dream. Cause one day, it will happen. And one day, I will tell everyone about it. But today is not that day.

Until next time.

Stay shiny.