Holy crapola! Is the year already half-over? You’d think for sleeping so little that the past six months would feel long. Nope.
In either case, I’ve got a few minutes here. Thought I’d check in my 2010 goals and plan and see how I’m doing.
In brief: Ha ha ha ha!
Actually, while my plans have changed, I’ve still managed to accomplish quite a bit while working and helping care for Sydney.
To review, I drew up a “strategic plan” that outlined the main personal and professional accomplishments that I’m after, the metrics I’m using to measure success and the strategies I’m employing to move those metrics. Here’s the breakdown:
Main accomplishments:
- Build my writing chops
- Grow my writing career
- Improve my wellness
How I’m measuring success:
- Write 12 script outlines
- Write a children’s book
- Land 3 new paid freelance clients
- Land 3 new charity clients
- Increase my income by 30%
- Reach 150 lbs.
- Maintain a certain “quality of life” score on my tracking metrics
My strategies to reach those measurements:
- Host an online writing group to develop one script outline per month
- Write 100 words per day on a children’s story I thought of last year
- Launch a charity project in which I offer my copywriting services for free to sustainable organizations (more about this in a future post)
- Build my professional network
- Improve my diet
- Develop a yoga & meditation practice
And I’ve outlined the 2-5 steps involved with each of these strategies. I’ll skip those here, though.
Write 12 script outlines: My online writing group and 12 script outlines is going well. I dropped the count from 12 to 10 to give me a bit more time with each story, but I’ve missed a couple posts here and there, effectively eating up my extra time. Of the five stories I’ve worked on so far, I’d say two turned out great, two completely fell apart and the last looks promising. Not the batting average I hoped for, but it’s a learning process. And while my time-per-outline has leveled off, I’m taking steps to turn that trend around.
Write a children’s book: My 100-words-per-day children’s book process was doable, but without an outline it quickly hit a dead-end. I put the writing on hiatus and set about outlining that story, too. And made good progress. I have re-envisioned the story and almost completely outlined it, but there’s still some work left. I want to have the spine and characters in place before I start over. Lesson learned. Nonetheless, the 12 10 script outlines are a higher priority, so this story is waiting until I have more than enough time for the former.
With such a delightful muse, I’ve actually brainstormed several other great kids books. Maybe I’ll use some vacation time one of these days and write them out. I definitely would like to get them written, illustrated and published by the time she’s ready to read them.
Land 3 new paid freelance clients: I’ve worked with one new freelance client this year, but with my schedule maxed, I don’t have time to take new work even if I wanted to. As such, I haven’t put much time into building my professional network. I did relaunch my personal website, though, and start tweeting to promote it. Slowly putting the pieces together and learning how to use Twitter effectively. The plan is to casually build my network so that it’s in place when/if I need it.
In addition to blogging and tweeting about writing, I have some other exciting projects up my sleeve, from websites to book proposals. (You know, should I discover an extra day in the week.)
Land 3 new charity clients: After much hemming-and-hawing, my charity project is a no-go. While I still want to donate my copywriting services to sustainable organizations, the project evolved into a larger (and more exciting) undertaking. I did a lot of the back-end marketing and editorial planning but concluded I just don’t have the time necessary to make this a success. Even the service donation is too much right now, I’m afraid. This is in large part because…
I started my own business! As if I don’t have enough on my plate, right? The official announcement is forthcoming, but I’ve been using much of my spare time putting all of the pieces together. I just received word the business is officially an LLC, and the branding and web design is underway. Don’t worry: I’m not quitting my day job or my freelance work; this will be a side project I will grow over the upcoming years. The business will bring together my talents in writing, education and marketing with my passion for film, personal development and creativity. Very exciting stuff.
Increase my income by 30%: Thanks to my freelance work, I’m on track to meet my 30% income increase. I may even reach my larger 3-year goal of a 50% increase.
Reach 150 pounds:I started the year at about 170 lbs, having gained about 20 sympathy pounds during the pregnancy. Thanks to Mark Sisson and The Primal Blueprint, though, I’ve already lost half that weight. I was ready to work off the rest, but my foot injury has keep me off my feet for the better part of a month. (Long story short, I seemed to have bruised the pads on the bottom of my feet, leading to some chronic inflammation. The prescription I received from my doctor did no good. I just took a homeopathic remedy a few days ago and am hoping it will do the trick. Lord knows I’m eager to start hiking and biking around again.) No yoga yet; getting more sleep is the priority, and I’m working in naps whenever I can. I’m now the master of the 20 minute “car nap” during my lunch breaks. Uncomfortably refreshing!
Maintain high tracking numbers: As for my personal metrics, I dropped that program at the end of January. I was keeping up with the ongoing monitoring, but with Sydney and my writing, I didn’t have any free time to compile and analyze the data. So not much point in continuing right now. Which is alright. I was glad to get off “tracking time” and get on “Sydney time”. I still start each day with only three to-do’s, and I’ve been working on a new “work primer” designed to help me prioritize, focus and clarify my outcomes at the start of each work session. I’ll be sharing that via my writing blog at some point in the future.
And there you go!
Not bad, right? Maybe I’ll have to reward myself with a ticket to TOY STORY 3.
What about you? How was the first half of your year?
One Comment
If only my income hadn’t dropped by 200%, we’d be in great shape this year.
I am super excited about your professional pursuits and accomplishments, Ryan. It’s been a (half) year full of transitions and unknowns, and you’ve faced it all with courage, competence and fortitude.