My first feeling was disappointment.  It didn’t seem like I had accomplished the things that I had set out to do. As I was preparing to throw myself a little pity party, I wondered what DID I do all year after all? I mean, I was pretty busy, it couldn’t have all been goofing off, could it?

After I thought about it, I was pleasantly surprised to realize that even though I didn’t necessarily accomplish my 2019 Suggestions, I did accomplish quite a few things.  Including some that I would have never even imagined.

One thing that I was getting down on myself about is how much I have slowed down with my blogging.  I was disappointed because working on my writing was one of my keep doing suggestions.  But then I realized that I have been writing. A lot. In a bunch of new-to-me genres, not just creative non-fiction.

I started writing fiction (flash fiction and short stories so far).  I’ve published a few here like the tale of the wacky antiques dealer, the Real Housewives Triad, and the legend of Headless Mike.  One of my stories was published in an actual book (more on that in a bit).

Writing for my neighborhood newsletter gave me an opportunity to venture into journalism.

And I started a habit of morning pages – three pages of stream-of-consciousness writing, longhand, done daily (one of the cornerstone practices of The Artists Way).

Even with all of that and The In-Between Things, I didn’t feel that I had been generating the volume of work that I would have liked.  Why not, where was my time going?  Oh, that’s right! The Rough Writers Anthology!  Because I was not only a contributor, I was the editor and project manager for the book.

By virtue of my work as editor on the Rough Writers Anthology, I was approached to edit another book. And that makes three things that had never even occurred to me that I would do in 2019: become a published author and edit two books!

In addition to my foray into editing (which I LOVE and hope to do more of), I also started to find my niche with my freelancing – brand platforms. I know how hard it can be to figure out how to talk about what you do, and it has been beyond edifying to be able to help other individuals and small businesses get clear and get comfortable with their stories.

So instead of beating myself up for the things that I didn’t do, I’m going to take this opportunity to celebrate a few little victories.  When I look back on 2019, I can see that it was a year of experimentation – I said yes to almost every opportunity that came my way and those opportunities opened new doors to unexpected paths.

Before you get too busy in this new year, take a moment to look back on 2019. It probably didn’t go the way that you had anticipated either.  But I bet that you also accomplished some things as the result of happy accidents.  What were your surprise wins?

As I get ready to think about my goals for 2020, I’m going to try to remember to give myself some latitude for happy accidents. I hope that you will too.

The post 2019 in Review appeared first on Cynthia Gellis.

I was flipping through a notebook that I’ve been using this year for various notes and lists and I found a list that I had made for myself in January.  I’m not a big “new year’s resolutions” girl, but I remember wanting to give myself some things to focus on for the year.  I called it “2018 Suggestions”.

I had forgotten that I had written these things down (the way that most of us forget about our new year’s resolutions) and it made me smile to read it with fresh eyes. Even if my handwriting makes me cringe. 

I recently participated in a webinar about goal setting.  The presenter said that there are three levels of increasing effectiveness. The first is to think it. The second is to write it down and share it. 

A few of the items that I had written down penetrated my subconscious and have gathered some steam over the year, specifically:

• Wear less black
• Walk more
• Less shopping
• Write some things down (tada!)

Some rattled around in my brain but didn’t really gain much traction:

• Be pulled together (my cheat for this is wearing lipstick)
• Send birthday cards (it’s hit-and-miss)
• I need a better reminder to make more cream puffs!

“Spend some time on abs” didn’t get off the ground although Mondays with Adam has been helping that whole issue. This will be a topic for another day. 

That I was able to get four of my nine suggestions to stick makes me happy.  The good thing about good habits is that they become easier to maintain which frees up some mental energy to add new ones.   I think that I’ll try giving myself some suggestions again for 2019.  I’m going to replay a few, think about what else I might want to add and see what I can get to stick (hopefully cream puffs and birthday cards at least).

The third effectiveness boost for accomplishing goals is to report your status regularly.  It doesn’t matter who you are reporting to.  Just the fact that there is someone who you are going to tell how (or what) you are doing to make progress on your goals makes you more likely to take some action.

So, I was thinking that I will share my 2019 suggestions here with you in January.  And if you have something that you want to suggest for yourself, you can put it in the comments.  Then every so often, we can have a check-in and share what/how we are doing.  What do you think?  Do you want to play?   

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