It's nearly 2023. Time is but a concept, a slippery one that is more than happy to run away from you without you so much as blinking.
In 2022 I didn't set a single goal, or make any New Years' Resolutions. I tried that method, I tried to be loose and free with my time and put less pressure on myself. And in some ways that led to me being pretty productive. I bought my first home with my partner and had a massive career change that has led to some steep, but still enjoyable, learning curves.
But in terms of writing and creativity, I have all-but lost the part of me that feels like an author. It sounds sad and mopey, but really it's just me being introspective. I've learnt a lot about myself this year. Some lessons that I really ought to have known already, but hey, we get where we're going, even if there are a few u-turns along the route.
So, if 2022 was the year of no-goals, 2023 will be the year of goals. I'm gonna set so many goals my brain isn't going to know what's hit it. Well, not that many, but certainly enough to check in with myself and find my writerly spirit again.
At work, we set things called OKRs. They sound dull, but hang on in there, I promise they're relevant here.
OKR stands for Objective Key Results. As I understand them, you set an overarching objective and then you set your Key Results, or how you're going to achieve that Objective. They're meant to be aspirational, and the Key Result element is meant to help you achieve your goals in a measurable and meaningful way. At risk of sounding oh-so-corporate, I'm going to set 3 OKRs for each quarter of 2023. So there'll be 3 goals that I'll set now ready for Q1 that I'll come back to check in on, and then a further 3 for the next quarter, and so on.
So, for Q1 of 2023 (I apologise from the bottom of my heart for the business-eurgh of this post, I promise you that the jargon is making me feel slightly ill too. But if these things are effective in my professional career, then there's no reason why they won't work for my personal objectives too!)
Objective 1: Re-find my people and hold onto them with both hands.
Key Result 1: Attend Jules' YouTube sprints on a Friday night (if she decides to ever stop running them, I'll be devastated 😅).
Key Result 2: Start running my own sprints twice a month with a rotating lineup of co-hosts.
Key Result 3: Attend / take part in a creative meet-up at least twice in the quarter.
Objective 2: Get operation Reverse Philosopher's Stone off the ground.
Key Result 1: Plan the full trilogy (boy that sounds so simple when you word it like that!)
Key Result 2: Fast draft book 1
Objective 3: Find my voice in the writing / reading community online
Key Result 1: Write at least 1 blog post per month and send it out as part of my newsletter (which desperately needs reviving!)
Key Result 2: Slowly reintroduce YouTube into my life by committing to 2 videos per month
Key Result 3: Finally meet up with the wonderful writers I've met online that are based in England. It's been a long time coming and I honestly can't wait to meet them!
So there they are. 3 goals with actionable Key Results attached to them. I'll be revisiting these over the next few months to see how I'm achieving them, and will be setting my next set of goals in March. I'm really hoping that holding myself accountable in this way is going to work for my writing next year! We can but hope 🤞🏻
