One thing I have wanted to do for a while is take some time to think about long-term goals. I've generally had fairly good success in the past with long-term goal setting. Gynn and I talked through plans to buy a house, to adopt a child, and to move overseas, and those things came to fruition generally within the timeframes we had imagined.
So during the Chinese New Year break, I set aside some time to think about things that I would like to make happen in the next five years or so. Some of these are personal, some are for the whole family. I wrote these down in my paper journal, and the versions there are more specific in terms of timeframe and money. I'm also leaving a few items out of this post because they are personal/health related. And finally there are some things that I am working on long-term that are hard to quantify at this point (example: I would like to improve at speaking/reading Chinese, but I don't yet have a good enough sense of the pace of my progress to set really measurable goals at that).
So here is what I have to share.
Before the end of 2019 I will:
Have zero credit card debt.
Have written a complete second draft of my current work-in-progress novel, The Lady of Three Faces.
Have some additional money in savings.
Have some sort of writing-based online income stream.
Before the end of 2020 I will:
Have a novel ready for submission to agents/publishers.
Have done the necessary research for agent submission.
Have a self-published book or serial available for purchase or on an income-generating site.
Continue to have manageable credit card debt/savings.
Before the end of 2021 I will:
Have a novel accepted for publication or self-published.
Have been to my top choices for travel destinations in China, and some of my other top "bucket-list" destinations.
Have plans underway for employment in the 2021/2022 school year.
Continue to have manageable credit card debt/savings.
By the summer of 2024 I will:
Be living in the USA or have a job secured for in the USA for the 2024/2025 school year, unless we have decided to remain overseas through the Kiddo's high school graduation.
Have plans/finances in place to buy a house within two years.
I have never been too into self-help guru writing/advice, but I do think of a meaningful, if a bit silly example of such. During a WWE Hall of Fame induction speech, Diamond Dallas Page once talked about a moment when his career was stagnant, and he wrote down the words "I will be world champion within five years." He was. His advice, in the best possible self-help silliness: "Don't think it. Ink it." So I've done that this time, and now I've shared it.
I'll keep you posted on how it goes.
So during the Chinese New Year break, I set aside some time to think about things that I would like to make happen in the next five years or so. Some of these are personal, some are for the whole family. I wrote these down in my paper journal, and the versions there are more specific in terms of timeframe and money. I'm also leaving a few items out of this post because they are personal/health related. And finally there are some things that I am working on long-term that are hard to quantify at this point (example: I would like to improve at speaking/reading Chinese, but I don't yet have a good enough sense of the pace of my progress to set really measurable goals at that).
So here is what I have to share.
Before the end of 2019 I will:
Have zero credit card debt.
Have written a complete second draft of my current work-in-progress novel, The Lady of Three Faces.
Have some additional money in savings.
Have some sort of writing-based online income stream.
Before the end of 2020 I will:
Have a novel ready for submission to agents/publishers.
Have done the necessary research for agent submission.
Have a self-published book or serial available for purchase or on an income-generating site.
Continue to have manageable credit card debt/savings.
Before the end of 2021 I will:
Have a novel accepted for publication or self-published.
Have been to my top choices for travel destinations in China, and some of my other top "bucket-list" destinations.
Have plans underway for employment in the 2021/2022 school year.
Continue to have manageable credit card debt/savings.
By the summer of 2024 I will:
Be living in the USA or have a job secured for in the USA for the 2024/2025 school year, unless we have decided to remain overseas through the Kiddo's high school graduation.
Have plans/finances in place to buy a house within two years.
I have never been too into self-help guru writing/advice, but I do think of a meaningful, if a bit silly example of such. During a WWE Hall of Fame induction speech, Diamond Dallas Page once talked about a moment when his career was stagnant, and he wrote down the words "I will be world champion within five years." He was. His advice, in the best possible self-help silliness: "Don't think it. Ink it." So I've done that this time, and now I've shared it.
I'll keep you posted on how it goes.
