Dreams, Wishes, and Goals #goalsetting #dreams #achievability

We are already looking January in our rearview mirror. I hope you have enjoyed all of the posts about goals. There have been lots of tips and ideas that I plan to try myself. I hope you have found some too. Today’s guest brings the month to an end with more tips about goals and how it is hard to set them. I agree. I also want to congratulate AJ on his new and first release, he will share with us as well.

I am a dreamer. Worse, I’m a perfectionist and subsequently a procrastinator. So goal setting is hard for me. I struggle to come up with achievable, realistic goals. And when I do, I further lag behind when it comes to implementing the required actions in order to succeed. 

There is an unwritten rule that as long as something remains undone it is perfect, untarnished and you cannot fail at it.

But, it doesn’t take you out of the dreamer category and put you in the do-er category, either. And for me the difference between the two is goals.

Dave Ramsay advocates “goals are just wishes unless you write them down.” He further goes on to clarify what constituted a goal be stating that “goals are specific and measurable. If your goals are too vague, they are still just dreams.”

Like most people, I set goals each year. And like most people, I usually fail to write down what I want and a month later I’ve forgotten what I thought I wanted to achieve. Or maybe I remember, but I have no plan, and so I never get there.

I want this year to be different. So I started by writing down the things I hope to accomplish. I divided those things into two categories, personal and professional, mostly meaning for me as a new author. I kept them small and achievable because that is something I need in my life. 

Personal Goals:

1. Get me a companion animal 
2.  Visit MIL in St. George 

Subgoal: take a day trip to Vegas sans kids with husband

1. Pay off medical debts

Professional Goals:

1. Grow my author group on Facebook
2.  Write 20 minutes a day
3.  Publish at least 3 books in 2019

So what do I do now that I’ve written down my specific, measurable goals? For me, I make lists. I have a wonderful goal-setting planner called a passion planner that helps me focus on daily and weekly tasks and provides space for me to make lists and brainstorm. I have pages dedicated to mapping out my dreams and monthly reflection that allows me to reflect on what I have and haven’t done and how to do better next month. It’s a really exciting thing.

I conscript the monthly map pages each month to be my word count tracker, a space where I write down my daily word counts (which I track sprint by sprint in a spreadsheet) and then if I did more than 500 words I get a sticker. I’m a bit of a sticker addict, so my daily sticker is a really great motivator for me to get my butt in the chair and get my words on the page. And eventually, those words become a finished book.

I just published my debut novella, Minor Misconduct, on January 2nd.

Title: Minor Misconduct

Author: A.J. Bixler

Cover artist: Morningstar Ashley

Genre: Contemporary MM Preg

Kindle Edition, 88 pages

Published January 1st, 2020

Can a summer fling turn into something real?

Omega Seth Guerrero-Williams expects this summer to be like every other he’s worked at Camp Clair. He knows that when the summer ends, he’ll have to find a real, grown-up job using his brand new college degree. 

Alpha Matty Pelletier just signed a lucrative hockey contract in Arizona. This is supposed to be his last summer of relative fun before moving across the country in pursuit of his childhood dream. When Matty gets the call to be a last-minute substitute camp counselor, he can’t refuse. 

Neither he nor Seth is prepared for the attraction that flares between them. What starts as a bit of summer fun, quickly turns into something more.

When summer ends, they go back to their regularly scheduled lives on opposite sides of the country. Until outside forces bring them back together.  Are their feelings strong enough to bridge the distance between them or were they doomed from the start?

A sweet, mpreg romance. 

You can buy it here: https://www.amazon.com/Minor-Misconduct-AJ-Bixler-ebook/dp/B083D8NVVT/

mybook.to/MinorMisconduct

Read it free on KU

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Meet A.J.

AJ Bixler is a queer writer living in Utah. He can frequently be found in his local coffee shop or ensconced on his couch while he wrangles unruly characters to the page. In addition to writing romance stories, AJ is extremely active in his local writer’s community where he is known for his confessional style of poetry.
AJ and his husband have two children whom they are attempting to teach how to be good humans. He is a horrible homemaker, but a good cook. He is addicted to Coke, pasta and tacos.
AJ loves hoarding stickers, pretty stationary and colored pens. He enjoys taking the time to write and decorate hand-written letters and cards for friends or loved ones.

Do you have dreams or goals?