This is my quarterly update on my goals for accountability (and frankly, record-keeping!) I have been relatively successful at working toward my Q1 2025 goals, overall.
One of the things I encourage folks to do when reviewing their own goals is to review what surprised them, or what they did that wasn’t on the list.
The abrupt and outrageous changes in our political landscape definitely surprised me. And did to some extent change how I do things. I’ve deleted all social media apps off my phone, since even the most benign of them was causing me to spiral in anxiety and depression. I’ve adjusted travel plans. I’ve reduced spending and amped up my determination to tend and repair my belongings rather than buying new stuff.
A good surprise that happened was I got a book contract for the burnout book. But that did take precedence over a number of my other goals, and I had to rearrange some things to meet that April 1 deadline.
Q1 Goals that I Completed:
- I did launch the coaching business, but I didn’t make it up to 7 sessions a month. This is partially due to my own lack of marketing, and due to upheaval in my five current clients’ lives.
- I successfully presented at the SWPACA conference in February
- I successfully went on a great trip with Josh
- I am scheduled with Morbid Anatomy classes through June. But I think I want to add a few more one-day lower-cost options.
- I did teach at least one class per month, and gave the lecture in February, but I have not yet recorded my on-demand class. So that was a “mostly complete” rather than 100%
- I did start seeds in February and get the garden underway!
- I submitted my 2024 taxes
- I self-published a novella
Things I got done that I didn’t expect!
- I signed a contract for the burnout book, completed revisions and submitted the final draft (plus a forward!) by the deadline.
- I have been doing the very hard work of asking authors to review my book and provide blurbs. (I’m not joking about this being hard. It’s probably the scariest thing I’ve done in a while)
- Hired a financial manager.
- Completed Joanna’s Memento Mori class and reading her book, which led me not only to do some fun art projects, but also to complete my will.
Q1 Goals I didn’t get done (yet)
- Fire safety in March and April, and the go-box needs to be refreshed – this is currently underway, and I want to keep it on the Q2 list.
- Finish Advanced Unicorn Theory – Technically the whole finalized package isn’t due to the publisher until May 1, but I’d wanted to get the image copyrights nailed down by the end of this quarter, and hopefully get the peer review edits started
- Finish the dissertation / storytelling book proposal and get it out on submissions by 3/31 – I got distracted by the burnout book! This one will be bumped to Q2, I think.
- Have my emergency fund set up (it’s currently in a CD, and I think it needs to be located in a different kind of account). This is a Q2 goal now.
- I think I want to try to get my shingles vaccines – it’s early age-wise, but I am immunosuppressed, so I think I might be able to get it? This is a Q2 goal now.
I also have a huge content creation list – the quarterly list is over 120 rows long. This includes all of the things I create for Patreon, the content I post on YouTube, as well as other pages on my website and content that I’m creating. Of the over 130 items planned and scoped in Q1, I did not create thirteen of them. Several of these items were landing pages for this website for the various courses and trainings that I offer. Two of them were PDFs about job-related and burnout-related topics, with the idea of using them as downloadable white papers for burnout book and coaching marketing. Almost all of the rest of them were related to burnout and career change stuff.
I find this interesting, because though I like the idea of coaching folks around career pivot, burnout, and living a more creative life, I really wasn’t feeling the creation of these materials. So much of what I’m doing right now is seeing how and where my energy flows, and where I’m seeing success.
With All This In Mind, My Q2 2025 Goals Are:
- Fire safety – Right now this includes trimming and chopping up the dead trees that could blow over, and the boughs that split during the deep snows earlier this year. I just want my forest to be healthy.
- Gardening – getting the seeds and plants in the ground is high priority!
- Advanced Unicorn Theory is due May 1st, but of course that’s contingent upon the peer review feedback coming in on time, and all twelve of my authors getting edits back quickly!
- Copy edits and finalization of the burnout book (i.e. back cover copy, headshots, and so on)
- Dissertation / Storytelling book on proposal by June 30
- Emergency fund set up, and business bank accounts set up properly
- Shingles Vaccines
- Teach a class per month (Hero’s Journey, How to Think Like a Mythologist, Personal Myth, and a Writing Workshop). I have a standing goal to give one lecture as well as recording and submitting an on-demand course with Morbid Anatomy, but I have no idea what those topics might be just yet.
- Get those coaching clients and sessions back on track – I’d like to be to 14 sessions per month by 6/30
- Self-publish another book, applying lessons learned from the first one – this time it will include a paperback edition. My goal is to have it available for purchase by August 1.
- Hosting few potential guests from out of town throughout the summer!
- Submit a fiction piece for publication once each month – this has been on my monthly checklist for years, but I’m writing it here for accountability. I’ve let my fiction practice slide, and I’d like to remedy that.
Things that might get in the way of these goals?
Another tool I often teach is to anticipate potential obstacles to goals to be able to better deal with them if they occur.
Honestly, my body is a big one. The arthritis is controlled, but it acts up with the weather changes, and the wind of and stress of fire season is always a challenge. I’m already finding myself resting more and deprioritizing content creation and anything that does not immediately impact the bottom line. That’s one of the reasons why I looked at which content items I consistently dropped off the list. Some of that work may end up dropping off the list entirely!