It’s getting to be that time!
The midyear.
I saw someone else do a midyear review,
and it got me inspired to share my writing goals for the year and how things have gone.
There has been a lot of change happening and 3 resources which have really helped me so far this year.
I’ll share it ALL in this review.
1: What was my biggest goal?
Let’s review my original focus for the year:
💚 What I really want is to end this year more self-loving than I began on January 1st, 2023.
What I really want
is to feel connected to my own foundation,
to connect to myself on a daily basis,
to listen to myself —
💚 even the mad, sad, shamed, messy, crazy parts of me,
and be all accepting.
Instead of working on something outside, I want to remember to put the focus on going in.
To sum that up into a word for the year:
FOUNDATION.
(From “The Kindof Year I crave“ on Medium about my New Year Goal)
In sum, I wanted self-acceptance and self-listening above any other specific goal.
2: What were my Winter + Spring Goals?
So now I’ll discuss my writing goals, i.e. subgoals I held loosely under this overall self-love umbrella goal.
So you may notice I mostly write nonfiction these days?
That’s my comfort zone as I’ve been publishing nonfiction for over 20 years online, in magazines, in books, etc.
Nonfiction or business copy is what I help clients with in the Summer Writing Group.
I’ll give my nonfiction a separate review next week.
I also have dreams of writing fiction. Fantasy. Romance.
This is more of a PERSONAL writing goal.
Fiction doesn’t relate to my business so it always feels a little tangential to my core essential writing to do. Easy to skip.
But in honoring my year’s focus on ME,
at the beginning of 2023, I really wanted to work more on a personal fiction project.
Specifically, my fiction series called Blood Witch.
And that’s where I’ve been having the most trouble for several years…
 Covers for books I haven’t finished. |
Blood Witch is a contemporary fantasy/ paranormal romance series I worked on 2020-2021.
Btw I already am mostly finished Book one.
I’ve got quite a lot written for the first 3 books in the series, covers, etc.
Nothing is published or finished yet.
I haven’t moved forward with writing fiction since my dad got sick with cancer in 2021.
At New Years, I really wanted to figure out how to make progress on this writing project again.
Now getting clear that this was important to me took some time.
🍓 Helpful Resource #1:
I want to thank Elin Loow for her Companions in Creativity space, as well as her seasonal worksheets for creative project planning and reviewing.
These helped me uncover my desire to work on my fiction book while maintaining my primary focus of self love.
I went through her different questions around the New Year, and at times in the spring.
I also used her Summer planning worksheets to prepare for writing this email review.
3: How Did I Begin Work on the Fiction Goal?
I got clear on my spring goals and it was time to get to work, so what did I do?
I set a weekly timeblock on my calendar and also set up coworks to support this.
I tried other techniques that work with my nonfiction writing, I talked to a few experts.
The project didn’t feel RIPE.
I feel it viscerally that some projects feel ripe to do now and others do not.
This was unripe. I had no motivation to write.
The thought of pushing myself to try to write any way gave me anxiety, and felt very not wise.
🍓Helpful Resource #2
I had just learned about Jacqui Acree. She teaches EFT/Tapping.
If you don’t know tapping, it’s a tool where you tap acupressure points. I’ve been using it for many years and love it.
It helps me process emotions and move forward.
I decided to do an individual tapping session with Jacqui to help me with emotions around the book series.
That was good: I had too much junk to work through in one session but I did get clear on something:
I should prioritize working through the emotions around my fiction series before trying to write it.
To do this, Jacqui invited me to her Goal Trauma program to keep tapping on it and working through it all.
Since tapping in general works really well for me and Jacqui does it really, really well, I joined her program!
This resource made the biggest difference on how I relate to my fiction writing.
I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve learned from Jacqui Acree’s Goal Trauma class and I want to share how it impacted my writing process,
in a way I really did not expect.
I fully recommend the course, her 1-1 tapping, her other programs, and you can try Jacqui’s upcoming free tapping classes by going here.
Get a taste of tapping with Jacqui during her free classes coming up!
Feel Good about your goals so you can relax this summer.
Click here to sign up and get access to Jaqui’s free live classes and replays
Her class helped, and so did a book.
🍓 Helpful Resource #3
A book by Becca Syme, called “The Author Stuck List”.
I was reading it around when I took Goal Trauma and the two complimented each other nicely.
They both assume that if you aren’t doing something, you probably have a very good reason.
What perked my attention was when Becca Syme said,
sometimes people are blocked from writing because there is a life event that needs to be handled.
Moving is one example.
And that made me really look at my life and assess it.
Had I had a big life change? Um yes.
I stopped working on my fiction series when my dad got cancer and then almost immediately died!
That’s a big life change!
4: What was the Big realization or AHA moment for the Fiction Goal?
I still haven’t gotten back to where I was before my father died in 2021.
Of course, the emotions are a challenge, absolutely,
but specifically, I mean the tasks that were added to my plate.
– the estate responsibilities, deadlines & paperwork alone!
People don’t talk about paper work that can be involved when someone dies.
– 100s of documents I’ve had to page through,
– Dozens of phone calls I’ve made,
– 30 hours of scurrying around to please banks and creditors.
– 100 pages of super picky annoying paperwork to file
– Round after round of deadlines required by state government.
I’ve literally written a book’s worth of papers for the estate at this point, not to mention all the other work.
It has taken up a huge amount of real estate in my mind.
I was kicking and screaming emotionally every step of the way. It sucked.
And what the Author Stuck List, and the Goal Trauma class helped me see is that:
My mind can only hold so much
I only have so much bandwidth for stuff.
And since my dad died, I can’t handle as much at one time.
The tasks are more + my brain is still not functioning the same way.
The lessons are:
YOU CAN ONLY DO SO MUCH.
THERE IS AN OPPORTUNITY COST TO EVERYTHING YOU DO.
By doing one thing, you miss out on doing another thing with that time, energy and *bandwidth*.
I never thought about bandwidth, or how I only have the ability to hold a finite number of things in my mind at a time.
I’ve always been trying to be superwoman.
I try to do too much, and end up beating myself up when I can’t.
Thank goodness I see now.
The responsibility of being my dad’s executor was a legal necessity.
But the cost was I lost bandwidth needed to write my 5 book fiction series.
It’s taken bandwidth from other essential things, as well,
so now I have a fun pile-up of taxes and other things that need doing.
It adds up to a small mountain eating up my bandwidth.
5: How did I Reassess my Fiction Goals in the last 6 months?
First things first: clear stuff the mountain out of the way.
To work on the book series I have to cut through a small mountain of things FIRST.
WHAT A CHANGE IN THINKING.
For the last two years, I have not made significant movement on this fiction book series and thought:
– I need a new editor, writing coach, etc.
– I just need to figure out my block
– I’m just lazy or uncommitted or scared to fail and that’s on me
And believe me, all of those things may have ALSO been true, but they were not the *real root* of the problem.
Going through Jacqui Acree’s Goal Trauma program, she guided me to lovingly dive in and explore the real root of the problem.
It helped me cut through the noise,
forgive the hell out of myself,
work through all those possibilities, and
figure out how to accomplish my goals in an easier way.
Because if it’s too hard, it’s not happening. Life is better when things feel easy.
Her process worked really well for me and where I was at with the fiction goal.
So that’s how I figured out my big insight since January:
I just don’t have the headspace to hold a whole 5 book series right now!!!
With running the estate + running my business + all the nonfiction writing I want to do for that,
I really DO NOT HAVE THE CAPACITY.
And that’s ok.
6: How does this Change Align with the Yearly Goal?
Self-love, self-acceptance, listening to myself, ahoy.
Thank god, I’m doing it, for sure.
And big thanks to Jacqui Acree, who I definitely feel like helped me realize opportunities for more self-love through tapping.
Tapping helped me release bad feelings, so I could objectively assess my fiction goal and how I relate to it.
I’ve stopped feeling BAD about the lack of progress on this goal.
I have limits.
And that’s just fine.
I understand myself and my writing process better.
I have been able to RELEASE the pressure to work on something I physically cannot do right now.
I’ve stopped the negative self-talk and blaming around the lack of progress on my fiction series.
That’s all waste of energy, and tapping helped me let it go.
I’m channeling my energy into more useful things.
What’s really cool is that the Goal Trauma program I did can be applied to any goal,
so I just watch the replay again.
Each time I watch, I tap on something new.
It helps me take step after step to knock things down.
It’s a super helpful resource!!!
7: What did I do in the Last 6 months?
I have been better about not writing fiction, and I’ve doing other things instead.
I’m getting a lot of other things done
and chopping steadily through the mountain
of things standing between me and fiction writing.
Here’s what I got done since I signed up for the Goal Trauma Program:
BUSINESS GOALS
I’m going to talk about my business writing goals next week.
My intention for the Goal Trauma program was to focus on my life goals,
although it had some benefits like more confidence that helped my career.
It’s too much to get into right now,
so I’ll do another post reviewing my writing goals related to my business,
like Medium.
Stay tuned for more about writing for Medium next week and other biz goals.
LIFE GOALS
Because this is 100% in line with my self-love focus this year.
To be clear these are things I deliberately did tapping on with Jacqui’s Goal Trauma class to do more easily, not just any old thing I did:
– I finished my wedding announcement.
I made custom cards with links to a special website and sent them out, followed by social media announcement. Since I’m sad about my dad not being around, this was extra emotional and hard to announce, and it took me a long time to do. But the hard work is done and I’ve enjoyed so much love in response. Yay!
– I’m studying Italian regularly for the first time since 2020.
I had been feeling bad and discouraged. I’ve stopped the negative self-talk about it. I found a new way to study languages that feels much more fun with the LingQ app, and using it and learning a lot. I am planning to see my Italian family later this year and have a honeymoon in Italy!
– I’m going to the gym more and pushing myself to get strong and fit.
I’m going to new specialists to help with lingering health problems I’ve had for years. Health journeys are super emotional especially when it goes on for a long time, but so essential to face.
– I am doing volunteer work for Her Future Foundation regularly.
Since my dad died, I felt too overwhelmed to help them much because I could barely take care of my own stuff. But I’ve been really involved this spring. I wrote a grant for their funding, fundraised $255 for an event to end myths about FGM. We didn’t get that grant but I am exploring new grant opportunities. It can be hard to keep going sometimes when their funding doesn’t come through but I know that helping them is part of what I’m on the planet to do.
And finally:
– I FINISHED THE ESTATE PAPERWORK.
Thank god I don’t have those state government deadlines anymore, and the estate is closed. I’m not done wrapping up everything left behind by my dad. Some things are still pressing. But hey, a step completed is a step completed. You can bet I used Goal Trauma to help complete this crud.
8: What is the best change from January?
If my goal is to love myself more at the end of the year than the beginning, I am definitely on track.
– I’m feeling much more ENOUGH.
– I’m feeling more self-forgiveness about the limits of my abilities.
– I’m feeling more self-trust to do business and life *my way.*
– I’m feeling more realistic about what I can put on my plate so I don’t stress about what I can’t do.
The increase in self-compassion is gold AND
I am getting emotionally difficult things done as well.
All in all, it’s been a great few months.
I’m grateful that in the last 6 months I’ve come such a long way in so many areas.
I’m grateful I found Jacqui Acree to help support and I’m strategically tapping a lot more, making it easier.
I’m sharing to celebrate and also to offer her, Elin’s worksheets and Becca Syme’s book as resources to you.
9: What do I Recommend for Your Writing?
3 Resources:
1. Jacqui Acree, Tapping classes and coaching
2. Elin Loow, Four Seasons of Creative Work Worksheets
3. Becca Syme, The Author Stuck List
If emotional things seem to be getting in the way
of you writing or accomplishing other goals,
or you tend to beat yourself up
over goals, things that went wrong, or respond in another way that doesn’t help you:
I really recommend Jacqui Acree’s Goal Trauma program. That program isn’t open yet! It starts later this month, and she also has smaller programs coming up over the summer.
So instead do something free:
Get a taste of tapping with Jacqui during her free classes coming up!
Feel Good about your goals so you can relax this summer.
Click here to sign up and get access to Jaqui’s free live classes and replays
Don’t need that?
Are you ready to write this summer?
In that case, have fun writing your story, message, book or business content
so you can be of greater service in a greater way.
Join The Summer Writing Group community for guidance and coaching to write.
Enrollment for the Summer Writing Group ends Midnight June 13th.
Doors open again in November 2023 for winter.
But it’s ok if you don’t feel like writing at the moment
A few people told me they are not in the right headspace to write and have other things in the way.
Maybe Jacqui Acree‘s classes or the others could be a great resource for you, like it was for me.
This post contains affiliate links.
P.S. Make sure to sign up for my email newsletter if you’d like the installment next week on how my biz goals and writing for Medium are going!
