Goals. We all have them. January 1st is the year to make them. February 10th seems like the average day of the year we forget about them.
Not me. Not this time. I have ACTION PLANS!!!!
My goals this year focus primarily on promoting ZooFit and getting closer to being published. The difference is, this year, most of my goals are tangible action plans within the goals. So, they’re SMART (specific, measurable, achievable/attainable, relevant, and timely/time-bound).
First in Fitness:
1. Fix Knees. These damn knees. Last year I went to physical therapy, but this time around, it didn’t do a whole lot. I’m contemplating a rather non-invasive surgery mentioned by my orthopedist. Sometimes cannabis gels and lotions work, but not reliably enough. I’m tired of bringing down the intensity of workouts and modifying the hell out of workouts because of these suckers, so this year, THIS YEAR, we are FIXING. MY. KNEES!
2. 500 workouts completed this year. Yeah, that’s more than one every day, it’s two on some days. I’m pretty much doing SOMETHING everyday already. Whether it’s Sloth Army, Pilates, CrossFit, or ZooFit workouts, I do something everyday anyways. I don’t always count them because the run may have been short, or I didn’t feel I WORKED in Pilates (I totally work my ass off in Pilates). This year, I’m counting any physical activity I designate for fitness, and I’m aiming for 500 workouts in 365 days.
Writing Goals:
1. Books I am working on and want to finish in 2019- The Savrith Tree (to raise funds for Trees for You and Me), Positive Reinforcement is Not a Burger After the Gym (ideally by April, but no later than August), Fandom Fitness (by October), ZooFit Safari (have done by the end of February), and Fantastic Beasts and How to Save Them (may save for traditional publishing, but want to have written by the end of summer).
2. Edit and rework What Animals Taught Me About Health and Fitness and There Are No Stupid Questions (both are working titles). Because I haven’t worked on either of these books in MONTHS, this is a tougher goal, but it needs to be done.
3. Magazines and Guest Blogs- This year, I will publish 2 articles in magazines, and 2 on guest blogs. Any blog. It can be South Island CrossFit’s blog, Chuckanut Writers, or big name blogs where they pay writers. Any magazine, too. I have a spec piece I’m working on for Whidbey Life, and I’m working on a travel piece about the insider secrets of zoos. I will also count if I get published in professional journal, like AAZK’s Keeper Forum, or ABWAK’s Ratel. It all counts. Published is published.
Speaking of Publishing Goals, here are those:
1. Find an agent. To do that, I need to query the hell out of them. To query most of them, I need to continue working on my proposal. I did this actually in 2017, but fell flat on editing and perfecting it in 2018. My goal this year is to query 100 agents, so I definitely need to revive my efforts. This includes any pitch sessions I go to at any conference I’m attending. If I tweak my proposal, work on my pitch, and perfect my query letter, this goal is not out of reach.
2. The most common feedback I received last year during my pitch sessions at the writers conference was to improve my platform. I don’t have a HUGE following. So, my goal to increase that is to start an email newsletter and send out 1 article a month (more is fine, but I’ll start with one a month). I’ll have people sign up at conferences, so I can grow my readership. I also want to grow as an online personality by starting a YouTube channel. To start, I have a simple 5 video goal, but I think once we work out the kinks of putting together a video, we might find 8-10 are feasible.
3. I have a couple self-published books in the works, and a couple more in the works. A huge goal for me is to work with zoos to get my books out in the universe on a more global sense. I want to have my books in 2 zoo gift shops by the end of the year, and I want to schedule 2 ZooFit presentations at local zoos, either for their AAZK chapter, for the zoo staff, or the community around the zoo. I am not counting my presentations at the local library coming in March, but other presentations I book beyond that are acceptable as well.
Relationship Goals:
1. Chris and I spend a good amount of quality time together, I’m not discounting that. But I have had relationship goals for “date nights” and “hiking days” for years. They never seem to stick. Chris and I aren’t really “date night” type of people. But we do want to stay connected, so we are considering joining Brian Johnson’s Optimize Coaching Program together. We had an amazing year last year, which both tested us and made us significantly stronger together. I think the Optimize Coaching program will take us to the next level, and help me in my individual goals, as well as help Chris with some of his.
What are some of your goals for 2019? What are you doing today to work towards achieving them?