Response to yesterday's FreshStart post was fantastic! I'm happy so many of you are taking a few minutes to explore and articulate your intentions for the new year.
Today's FreshStart builds on yesterday's exercise. Since you were writing freely when you created your "What I Don't Want" list, let's organize and group your ideas. These notes make a perfect foundation for drafting a vision statement and even writing out goals, if you desire.
1. Review your ideas for recurring themes and redundancies. How many times did you describe the same outcome or circumstance in different words? This can indicate areas you're most interested in shifting.
2. Take a moment to list 3-5 aspects of your writing life that you're happy with right now. It's important to remember that effecting change is a process, one that builds on our past actions. Chances are, you've got a lot more going your way than you realize.
3. Review your responses and group your vision statements into the following categories:
a. outer environment (lifestyle/health, writing/work environment, relationships)
b. inner environment (mental attitudes)
c. writing process (blocks you want to overcome, workflow procedures you want to adapt)
d. writing/productivity outcomes (publishing, finishing drafts, etc.)
Your responses are now grouped into meaningful categories you can use for goal-setting.
4. Write a 3-5 sentence paragraph describing your vision for your writing life. (If you have more time, you may want to write this out as an outline of your ideal day.)
Remember that this is an organic process--today's notes are just initial ideas. Ideally, your vision statement is a dynamic document you'll update and refine throughout the year.
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