Last year I posted about New Year’s resolutions and how, after many years of trial and error, error, error, I realized that resolutions just don’t work for me. Instead, I tried using goal buckets as a way to move towards the things I want to accomplish and the person I want to be. I’m happy to report that this method was effective and successful. Yay! With this method, I had fewer instances of feeling like a failure, and I was able to keep up with my goal buckets for the entirety of 2019! What. A. Win!

I’m going to keep with my goal buckets (same ones) for 2020, given how well the method worked. But I also want to take things up a notch. I had wonderful writing successes and surprises in 2019, growing more as a writer than I could have dreamed. But, like many writers, I have ambitious writing goals and I want to push my stories to shine and sing in the way my heart believes they can. That means, I need more from myself and I need to put more into my writing. But what does that look like as I think about goals for the New Year?

For me, this means finding a goal that’s balanced with 1) specificity that will keep me moving forward, and 2) flexibility so that the goal is sustainable. I also want a goal that will make a dramatic and radical impact on my writing. Sound impossible? I thought so at first, until I asked myself this question:

What is the one thing I could do that would radically impact/change my writing life in 2020?

The answer came to mind quickly: build time into my day to write.

It’s almost too simple, but that’s why it will work. It’s a goal that’s specific enough to keep me moving forward (any time spent writing is time spent growing), but flexible enough to be sustainable (5 minutes or an hour, any time writing is success). It also is the most radical way to impact my writing life because I don’t do this now (outside of NaNoWriMo, that is).

As 2020 kicks off, I’m excited about this goal (another important piece of goal setting) because I know it’s something I can accomplish and I know it’s the one thing that will make the biggest impact in helping me get to where I want to be. As you think about your goals for 2020, I encourage you to ask yourself, what’s the one thing you could do in 2020 that would radically impact and change your life for the better, or help you toward your dreams? Writing or non-writing related, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!