Goals for 2018

Y’all, I seriously only have two personal goals for this coming year:

1. Deal with my mail as it comes in so it doesn’t pile up and turn into a towering monster that takes me hours to open/sort/deal with at the end of more months than I’m comfortable admitting here.

2. Eat the frog when it comes to grading so I can actually get it done in a timely manner and stop bitching about how much I have done when I’m not doing anything about it.

3. I’m also planning to enter at least one writing contest before the year is out.

4. And to work on my creative writing every day, starting someday this week that isn’t today or yesterday.

5. Oh, and to see Hamilton.

6. Also to eat more vegetables.

Those are my biggies. I also recognize that list has more than two items. But I just wanted you to see my thought process.

Here are some things I’ve read/been reading that are helping me with planning and establishing goals for the coming year/semester:

• Make a Year-Long Plan Instead of a Resolution
• How to Conduct Your Own Annual Review (complete with spreadsheet!)
• #AMonthofFaves2016 ~ Best Changes We Made This Year (specifically the bit about not breaking the chain)
• How to Escape Grading Jail (I’m going to plan my semesters so much better, y’all)
• Plan Boxes as Management Tools (goal setting for work sessions!)

Oh, and I have two social media resolutions:

1. I will no longer comment with “Enjoy it while you can/yeah but wait until they’re teenagers” when people are sharing happy things about their children. It’s rude and unnecessary to piss in people’s cornflakes with premonitions of doom when their children delight them.

2. It infuriates me when other people do this, so I will absolutely not give unsolicited advice when someone is just venting. For example, if someone says they’ve had trouble sleeping, I am not going to chime in with “But have you tried x” when they have not explicitly said, “Any suggestions for how I can fix this?” Odds are they have probably already tried it! (It’s like when people suggest I drink water when I have a headache. YES, I KNOW.)

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Anyway, onto the reading challenges, of which I am participating in three.

The first is Book Riot’s Read Harder Challenge.

I’ve made a Goodreads shelf with some possible reads for the challenge. Also, when I did the challenge in 2016, I never posted my completed list of books read, so someone please make sure I do that this time. I mean, really. It’s so basic. And yet.

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I will also be participating in Carrie’s #MustReadin2018.

This worked out well for me last year, and I like that it’s super chill/no pressure/no stakes. Just here are some books I plan to read this year. So anyway, here’s my list:

1. The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown (started it a couple of years ago but ran out of time before it had to be back at the library)

2. Wonder Woman: Warbringer by Leah Bardugo

3. Sisterhood Everlasting by Ann Brashares (I keep almost reading this and then not. I don’t know why. So, this year is the year.)

4. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (in preparation for the movie and because, seriously, I see there’s a wait on it and never put a hold on it at the library, which is dumb)

5.  The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

6. A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams

7. All These Things I’ve Done by Gabrielle Zevin

8. The Mistress of Spices by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

9. Mr. Loverman by Bernardine Evaristo (started this last month but ran out of time before it was due back at the library)

10. Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds

11. Black No More by George S. Schuyler (this is the third time this book has been on one of my lists. It’s ridiculous that I haven’t actually read it yet is what it is.) (It was also on my must read list for last year. THIS IS THE YEAR.)

12. The Mother of Black Hollywood by Jenifer Lewis

13. The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin

14. Alex + Ada, Vol. 3 by Jonathan Luna

15. Princeless: Raven the Pirate Princess, Vol. 2 by Jeremy Whitley

16. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life by Mark Manson (my daughter said this book was transformative for her, so I want to see what it says)

17. After the Funeral by Agatha Christie (I remember how the murder was solved but not much else about this book so I want to reread it)

18. Thick as Thieves by Megan Whalen Turner

19. Giant Days, Vol. 3 by John Allison

20. Princeless, Vol. 5 by Jeremy Whitley

And yes, I recognize that there is little to no overlap between my Must Read list and the Read Harder list. WHY AM I LIKE THIS? I do not know.

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Lastly, I’m going to give Adam’s Reading the Bible as Literature a go.

According to the schedule, I’m already two days behind. So you can see how this will be an actual challenge for me.