It's that time of the year..

It is of course THAT time of year, for looking back and looking forward, reflecting on resolutions made and kept/ broken and making them all over again to keep/ break.

I wrote last year that I don't really 'do' resolutions - although I do love a plan - and instead wrote myself a letter that reflected my aims for the year and what I thought I'd like to achieve. 

So farewell then 2012

I love re-reading things like last year's non-resolution letter, it's a bit like finding an old diary that transports you back to another time, with all the feelings flooding back.  If you want to read it it's here, but essentially there were three main things I wanted to get into the habit of doing and do well - writing, running and meditating. So how was it for me?

• Writing - I've definitely made progress this year. I've had articles published in magazines and on websites, I have a contract for an e-book, I have a whole series planned, and know that I want to focus on travel related non-fiction. I don't earn a living from any of it. I still don't write every day. Yet. But watch this space.
• Running - I started the year very focused on fitness, with a personal trainer and regular running habit. I was probably the fittest I've ever been by the time I went to trek to Machu Pichhu in April. Then three hospital stays within three months (one unplanned in Peru, and two planned here at home) set me well back. I have discovered much to my chagrin that I am in fact not Wonder Woman (maybe a good thing, I do not have the figure for that costume). My 'I'll have a couple of weeks off, then I'll be fine' after two not insubstantial operations turned out to be naive/ optimistic/ daft. It took til the Autumn for me to start feeling properly better. And the after effects still go on. So running took a back seat. Though I did turn vegan.
• Meditating - I have done this on a very ad hoc basis, which as with most things you don't get the best benefits from. I did go to two sessions of a six session course but was wasn't really too taken with the teacher (or have been very lucky and spoilt to have had an excellent previous teacher) I don't do this every day but would still like to. And I don't have to go on a course to do it really!

The last bit of last year's letter was an almost flippant pledge to clear out the black hole that was the cupboard under the stairs. Do you know what? This is the one thing I actually did 100%! In fact it became my small but perfectly formed office! This year's black hole is the garage... 

And hello 2013

So - what about this year? My aims are in similar kind of groupings - writing stuff, health stuff and good for the soul stuff.   

Writing stuff - I want writing to be my number one focus (there are all sorts of other things I'd love to do like learn Spanish, dig out my guitar - but I must focus!) My target is that I will finish and publish my first e-book and complete one other that I've started (ooooh is that a pattern of starting things and not finishing them I spot?!)
I do have ideas for a whole series and if I achieve any more than this it's a bonus but let's get one done at a time! 

Healthy stuff - I have no plans for any more hospital stays or operations! I have committed myself to fundraising for a charity and some challenges which are going to need tip top fitness (more on this another time) I also want to keep up being vegan and understand more about nutrition. I know what it's like to have something that you take for granted like good health suddenly taken away from you so keeping well is vital to me.
Running will be my exercise of choice and I do have goals which I'm still in the process of signing up to so I won't say any more until that's all signed and sealed. 

Good for the Soul stuff - this is where the meditation and mindfulness comes in. I'd also put things I sometimes mention like random acts of kindness and gratitude into this. The fundraising and support for the charity I'll be doing also comes into this Lentil Soup for the Soul grouping. Harder to set specific goals but I know that I want to feel more like I'm giving back, being more aware and more present.

With my managerial head on I am shouting measurable targets and actions are needed! So I am going to set monthly goals then you Dear Reader can cajole, criticise, congratulate and chivvy me along if you like – the resolution will be blogivised (with apologies to Gil Scott-Heron!)

So The Plan for January is that by the end of the month I will:

1.    finish the draft of the Machu Picchu book and apply for the Northern Writers Awards

2.    be able to run for 8 miles

3.    re-read Happiness and How it Happens by my favourite mindfulness teacher Suryacitta aka Happy Buddha

And on that note I am off for my first run of the year!

Changes and challenges

Two weeks before Christmas after four and a half years of being self employed, working from my HQ in The Cupboard, I started a temporary job which involves going into an office every day.  It's an exciting job which I think is also going to be a lot of fun, working with a great team and I'm really looking forward to it. But going from homeworking to office bound has been a slight shock to the system.

Putting aside the fact that I can't work half the day in my PJs (it was never a regular occurrence but just knowing I could was kind of nice!) I’ve quite like the novelty of getting dressed up every day (jeans and jumper were the usual uniform in The Cupboard). The downside is the increasing pile of washing and ironing...
The commute is working out to be about a 45 minute drive (to The Cupboard it's a minute - downstairs and turn left) but I've decided to use this constructively to listen to Learn Spanish CDs - if nothing else I may learn to shout at other drivers in a different language.

I will be there All Day. A huge benefit for me of being self employed was being able to balance work and other things. Although regularly working more than 8 hours a day for myself I could split it up and be flexible so I could also get to shops/ hospital appointments/ hairdressers/ gym/ take car to the garage etc easily anytime. I could take the dog out when it was light or whenever it stopped raining/ snowing etc. I could meet people easily for coffee/ lunch/ meetings without clock watching. I could always catch up on my work later on in the evenings or weekends. I will now have to work things around work time (like walk the dog only in the dark).

Having so little time (or so it feels at the moment) outside work I will have to be Much More Organised. My first week was ok. Wanting to stay vegan I cooked meals in advance at the weekend as I don't want to stop eating healthy home cooked food, made my packed lunch and prepared breakfast the night before. My second week was the week before Christmas and more frantic with trying to fit in shopping for last minute presents, food shopping as I was Doing Christmas Day, wrapping, socialising, cleaning the house and those million and one things there is always to do this time of year.

I will get paid a regular salary, every month, on time! As I am regularly chasing up several well overdue invoices - this is a huge plus and a very welcome benefit.  I have paid holidays and time off - unheard of luxury when self employed!

I'm also aiming to keep some freelance work ticking along (the job is just an interim one for nine months) and of course want to concentrate on my writing. In theory this is all possible. My challenge for the New Year is to work out how to fit it all in. There are of course seven days in a week and 24 hours in a day. It is all do-able. So tomorrow on New Year's Day I will be making a plan - oh I do love a plan - that I can stick to. I will share with you Dear Reader and plot it all on here so I can feel accountable and like I'm making public commitments that someone somewhere someday may well ask me about.

To kick off and help with my writing aims I'm taking part in 100k words in 100 days challenge, thanks once again to Sally and looking forward to charting the ups and downs with my fellow 100k challengers on the FaceBook page.

Changes and challenges – 2013 here we come!

Sometimes it's just One Of Those Days

Today has been One of Those Days when Things Go Awry and you end up writing about it with an overdose of capital letters.

After a frantic week including a busy Saturday, today was my one full day at home, a day to run through a pitch for tomorrow and catch up on my writing, as well as prepare for another busy week when I'm all over the place (I mean geographically.. but maybe in other ways too..!) and even relax a little.

The warning signs were there early this morning when firstly my coffee pot broke - and then I found my iPhone not charging properly so it is constantly threatening to conk out. Minor problems yes but amazing how much I rely on these things to help keep everything feeling tickety boo.

Son wanted to buy some new bits for school so I said we'd have a drive to the local shopping centre. We went, shopped, didn't hang about as wanted to get back quickly, but when I started the car smoke started coming out of the bonnet. Now I am no expert but I did guess this wasn't a good thing. This was confirmed by teenage son who then went into a foreign language talking about head gaskets and such like. Result was we spent the afternoon waiting for the AA man, getting towed by the AA man to deposit the car at the garage and then getting a lift home by the AA man. Gawd bless the AA man. By the time I got home I was freezing cold, fed up and all my plans were to pot.

I had a stompy walk with the dog, rang my dad to moan about the car, then gave myself a (metaphorical) slap. Of course sometimes Stuff Happens and it's easy and natural to get cross and crabby when days Don't Go To Plan (not least as I hate overusing capitals!) but That's Life. And tomorrow is of course Another Day. Hopefully with fewer capitals...