Goals for 2013 For Writers and Others, Too

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” –Mark Twain

I saw this quote by famed and beloved author, Mark Twain, recently. It's the perfect piece of advice for your writing life in the fast-approaching new year. 2013! It's going to be here in a matter of only days, so now is the time to begin thinking about your hopes and dreams and real goals for this next calendar year.

In some respects, a year is a gift to us. It's ours to do with whatever we want to with those 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days. We can choose to make it a do-nothing year or one that is filled with achievement using the goals we set for ourselves. 

When 2012 was about to arrive, one of the goals I set for myself was to step outside my comfort zone in submitting my writing. I can't say I was fantastically successful, but I did submit to publications I had never tried before, including a new anthology series. Only a couple of my stories were accepted in these publications, but it wasn't a total wipeout by any means.  

Another goal I set last January was to have another story published in a Chicken Soup for the Soul anthology series. I met that goal and added #13 to my list of Chicken Soup books. A good feeling.  I also wanted to increase the traffic to this blog and that has been achieved. 

The one sentence that stands out in the quote for me is Sail away from the safe harbor. Only a few words but what power there is in them. Whether it's in your writing life or the rest of your world, consider trying it in 2013. Take a chance now and then and set out for unknown parts. Do some exploring, dreaming, and discovering as per Mark Twain's advice. It could turn out to be the best year of your life.