Happy New Year, everyone! I am greatly looking forward to what the next 365 days will bring, and I hope you are too. This is the time for us to think about the year ahead, and how to choose achievable goals. If we want happiness and fulfillment to happen, we have to shape our own futures through hard work, concentrating on what is important to each of us so we can succeed.
One of the smartest things Becca and I started doing a few years ago was to create and follow a yearly business plan. We call it our “Plan on a Page” and keep it on the wall so we can reference it as needed while we work. Our plan isn’t complicated or difficult to follow…it simply outlines the major goals we want to accomplish for the year, areas of growth to focus on, and approximate deadlines (if they apply). This ensures that each and every day, we are working toward our goals, rather than getting sidetracked by other projects.
Think about making a plan yourselves this year! First, take some time for reflection. Then, if you like, here’s a link to the template Becca and I use, and some steps showing how to create a plan for yourself.
Before we go, a small shout out to Emotion Amplifiers, which is an ebook companion to The Emotion Thesaurus. Not everyone knows about this little ebooklet we put together, and it packs a nice punch when you’re looking to add some tension depth to a scene, or you want to heighten emotion even further. We hope it helps!
Happy writing!
Becca & Angela
Image: FlashBuddy @ Pixabay
Angela is a writing coach, international speaker, and bestselling author who loves to travel, teach, empower writers, and pay-it-forward. She also is a founder of One Stop For Writers, a portal to powerful, innovative tools to help writers elevate their storytelling.
Happy New Year, Angela! So true we need goals and plans. Can’t wait to hear about the secret project.
Thanks for the template!
Every year, I post my goals on my blog and then revisit them quarterly. Posting them publicly, as well as periodic evaluation of my progress, has helped me with both accountability and staying on track. It’s a lot harder to go back on something when everyone knows about it.
Happy New Year!
Your plan sounds like a great idea – and I can’t wait to find out what the surprise is!
I’d like to take this chance to thank you and Becca for all your work on this wonderful website. It’s been a huge help to my writing and I can’t wait to see what other great things you’ll release in 2015. Thank you very much!
Aw, thanks Ann! We love helping and love writers. I always love the start of any year, when the slate is clean and anything is possible. Here’s hoping 2015 turns out to be one of the best to date!
Thanks again for your “Gifts for Writers” post at WITS! I love it, and we appreciate the link. Now I’m off to use my “amplifiers” book while I edit. 🙂
Edit like a madwoman, Jenny!
My plans are always ongoing—I never plan them around the change of a number from year to year 😉 Good luck to EVERYone, regardless of when or the intended time frame, as to eventually achieving our goals! 😀
Btw, I LOVE charts, so thank you for the link to Jane’s! Actually, I noticed it’s YOURS but on Jane’s blog lol
And YAY for Audrey and Rachel! 😀
Haha, yep. I posted it a year ago i think. I still use the same template too. 🙂
You know, it looked/sounded familiar to me 🙂