Yearly Goals for 2026

The Chatters
21

Got a bit more traction than I expected so I will consolidate my replies to one message! :slight_smile:

@EmiliaFrost - those are great goals. Work-life balance is something really important, so I’m super happy you’re working on that! <3 Doomscrolling is definitely a bad habit to break. Have you tried blockers? I fall on the extreme end of needing guardrails so these may be overkill for you, but I recommend Cold Turkey Micromanager and Blocker for PC, and Brick for cellphones.

@NotARussianBot - I hope you can complete it! Rooting for you!

@stella_vigo - Pfffft, it’s fine. I do monthly goals too (I’m probably gonna cannibalise this thread for monthly checkins) and I frequently have to confess to everyone I did none of them. Bleh. Those are some good goals, I believe in you!

@olivia11 - Check-ins are really great. I like monthly, so I think I’ll do that here too. Probably won’t be very consistent, but oh well. I like sharing progress updates, and seeing everyone elses!

@SecretDurham - It really is hard… all the best to you, too! :slight_smile:

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22

January

I mentioned in my message above but I will cannibalise this thread for monthly goals, too. You do not have to participate if you don’t want to. Chances are I will forget this thread exists, too, lol.

  1. Schedule January’s social media! - DONE
  2. Personal Hell Task 1 - DONE
  3. Personal Hell Task 2 - in progress
  4. Finish my horror novel
  5. Finish and publish 2 shorts
  6. Make a new faceless reels fantasy Canva pack
  7. Finish the designs I was meant to make for here

If you want to participate but your goals are a bit personal, feel free to just rename them to something only you know, or share only your writing targets. Whatever you want. I just love seeing people hit their targets and apparently being honest and open with goals makes you more likely to hit them, or something, idk I’m not a scientist :joy:

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23
  • read 52 books
  • write 500 words per day
  • reduce screentime
  • get gud grade
  • re-write current wip
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24

From last year I actually managed one goal :joy: the one I thought I’d fail at!

My goals for this year:

  1. Continue to wake up at a more human time (before 9:30am)
  2. ACTUALLY finish ONC :smiley:
  3. Read 3 books (yes, I know it’s not high but it’s a start right?)
  4. Work out more (using the bull worker/gym/walking)

If I get 2/4 of those, I will be happy :smiley:

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25

Let’s see:

  • Finish current WIP at last (I am hoping its only 20-30k words away from ending)
  • Start writing a new story: I have sooo many possible ideas to work on
  • Continue exercising regularly
  • Learn to find a good balance between work and personal life
  • Read about 5 - 7 books at least

There are some other minor ones, but these are the main ones I’m hoping to make progress with

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26

2026 Goals
2026 Goals1080×1350 167 KB

I haven’t posted this on IG yet. I’m going to post it in a few days.

These are my goals. I won’t go into detail detail on IG about these, but I will here :wink:

-Fix “Where Rats Belong” before April 1
This is Bethany’s story. The story of the girl who turns into a rat. I will officially start my full-time job in April and who knows what they’ll have in store for me, so best to try to do what I want to do with writing before then. “fix” doesn’t mean I finish the story. I just need to have it on the right track. I finally figured out how to do this story and make it based around identity. I wrote up a basic thing for this and feel satisfied.

Now I need to edit the darn thing :stuck_out_tongue:

-Edit AAD by June 1st
This is the immortal assassin and demon friend story. I know June will already start to be really, really hot. It was like that last year. I want to have this done before the heatwave if at all possible. I’m thinking after the first few weeks of April, my job will settle down and I’ll figure out how to work writing into my schedule.

-Publish “Hush Hush” poetry collection
I finished writing it, finished editing it, and finished the illustrations. I even wrote an acknowledgments and an afterword. I have an e-book formatter booked on February 2nd. Likely can get this out in the spring or summer. I’m going to say summer. Something always comes up with these things. I’ll probably need time.

-Reevaluate LHSB
Last year, I realized that I need to find the joy in this story again. I need to remember why I was writing it. I need to write that story, and not all the garble that I tried to make it afterwards. I liked the version it was before. Idk why I tried to change it so much.

-Make Penguin Random House history video
I have most of the slides done. I just need to figure out why penguins and a few other things which will be easy info to find. Then I need to record which is the fun part :grin:
(here’s the first deep dive: Writer’s Digest)

-Finish reading a friend’s book
I started reading it at the end of the year and got to the halfway point. Progress.

-Read Cemetery Boys
Instead of telling myself not to buy more books, or to put a dent in my TBR, I decided to tell myself to read one book in my immediate TBR stack (consisting of around 12 books) which I have been meaning to read in a long time. Mood reader motivation.

-Celebrate 1 year anniversary of Between Roses June 14 paperback publication
I haven’t told anyone about this on IG except a few people who got hints. I’m putting together a giveaway pack with bookmarks and postcards.

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27

Oh, mine is a long laundry list of b.s. (Had this posted elsewhere.)

FINISH SOMETHING:
There’s a long list of things I need to clear up.
The editing on something I’m not going to publish properly because it’s a heart piece, but I will put it out there to read, generally for free: TMaKCT,
There’s the graphics study I was doing, so I can weed out a few fonts from my files. (Mostly done, just the “ways to judge it” to finish.),
ANY story’s expansion or edit, first draft continuation of series.,
Pulling story ideas off my channel until the last run, into a coherant document. (This needs to be done enough by Feb 1st.),
Finish the friggen Beta I had while sick–if I’m still wanted (lol).,

NON-WRITING:
6.: reset all 3 kids’s clothes so I know what I still need to buy, and get this crud out of my house.
Going to start with a primary care doctor tomorrow: long term goal is figuring out a health balance. I don’t care if this means a GLP-1 until a good 50 lbs is off. I’m tired of being tired, and I’m getting older.,
Get boy better prepared for school.,

February-April goals:
ONCs:
FINISH first draft of 1 in February before doing a test run of a 3rd manuscript (2K deposit). Every finished first draft allows a 2nd 2K test run before the end of the month. Whole point is to be far less invested in this in the month of April, and getting proper edits on the stories before the end of the competition.,

SUMMER MONTHS:
Taking all the time off didn’t net in productivity when they started school, even though all of them will be in school, so I need to find work that will keep me engaged when I lose my everloving mind.,

School Starts:
August, all 3 kids should be in school. About time to schedule a routine for me.,
November needs to finish November work or only take on an ONC intensity, where I’m trying to be more minimal instead of adding to my unfinished work.,

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