So you want to create some goals – but not just any goals. You want to make them good. And long-term. But balanced. Not too much stress, but not a bunch of softballs. Right?
Not a problem.
Over the next couple posts I’m going to walk through how to write your goals for the year and expand them into weekly goals you can plan around as well as a five-year long-term plan you can aim for.
Please jump in and share your work as well as ask questions. This is going to be a safe environment and I will delete or edit attacky’ness. 😉
So, let’s get started!
First of all, welcome to 2011. Some of you might be thinking, “Hey! Didn’t 2011 start a few weeks ago? It’s too late to really dig into making goals for the year now, isn’t it?”
It’s never to late to plan to be successful. So, jump in and join us!
Also, for those who thought 2011 would kick off a new beginning and haven’t seen it yet: Think of this time like a diet detox. You’re still getting rid of 2010, shaking it off. Great things are coming.
This first day we’re going to do a little practice dreaming… Not just dreaming, but dreaming BIG.
Some people really struggle with this concept. If you play along in the comments, I may push you to dream *BIGGER* Don’t worry. It’s sometimes scary to ask for big things for yourself, to let yourself want anything beyond what you think you can have (or what you think you deserve) but this is practice.
If absolutely nothing could stop you (including yourself or your personal view of reality) and there were no limitations of time, money or ability, what would you want to do? What would you want to have or own? Where would you want to go? Who would you want to be?
Remember: This is dreaming. This is not goals or to-dos or I-shoulds. This is just dreaming as big and broadly as you can. If you post, I’ll be jumping in and out of the comments to encourage and maybe push you a little more.
So, if nothing *NOTHING* could stop your dreams from coming true, what would they be?
Luv YA 
It is really hard to dream BIG without putting restrictions on yourself.
I’ll give it a try.
I’d like to be traveling around the world non-stop with the hubby for the rest of our lives. We’d have a few houses to choose from when we wanted to give traveling a break. Oh, and we’d be able to travel freely with our dogs without a headache and any silly quarantines.
During this time, I’d love to write where the words flow perfectly and freely and it would feel blissful each and every time as I sit drinking my coffee and dreaming up my latest best-seller.
Bacially my BIG dream is to travel all I want all the time with nothing holding me to one place and no money worries.
This is a great start Sabrina (you knew that was coming, right?) 😉
Where are you MUST SEE places on this non-stop travel – places you dream of seeing.
What do you want to write? What will happen with your writing? How many books? How big? Movies?
As big as possible 😉
My #1 must see place would be Istanbul. We’ve been to Turkey before but somehow never to my #1 place I want to go to in the world. There really isn’t anywhere I DON’T want to go so I seriously just want to travel all over. I dream of sitting in a cafe in Paris one day and the next saying to the hubby “Let’s go to Fiji tomorrow” and be off.
As for the writing – If I could write anything at all with BIG dreams it would be romances with the comedy, sass and wit of Susan Elizabeth Phillips and Jennifer Cruise. Romance for sure – possibly even romantic mysetries that make you laugh your butt off. I’m still working to try to get the funny stuff *well hopefully funny* to sound right on paper. Learning to write funny isn’t coming that easy for me!
I don’t dream of being as big as La Nora – not even in my biggest dreams. Too much pressure to be that well known I guess. I’d like to be a best-seller, above mid-list, but not well crazy famous. Putting out 2-3 full length books a year. Contribute to a few anthologies.
Oh – and I seriously want one of my books made into a Lifetime Movie. Not the 8’s ones with stalkers and scary men, but the new ones that are cute and sassy.
Wouldn’t mind creating a mystery series for TV with a female lead – think cozy, but with relationships and some steam. 🙂
I dream of going back in time to just before the big bang, then watching the universe unfold over all time through to the present day. Observing anything and everything that interests me.
Sabrina – Great, stuff you can touch… goals you can point to – great!
Suz – Um, I’m trying to figure out if you’re being serious or spamming me LOL
Answers to questions from Twitter:
The next post will be Wednesday
You can jump in any time
It’s going to be about 1/2 of the initial ACer Workshop I do (yes, I’m doing all that for free)
Dreaming big…
Like Sabrina, I’d love to travel. The not-so-big dream has been to get a big RV and travel the country, but I’d also love to do a Greek cruise, tour Europe (including Iceland), and the Amazon.
The rest is the usual. NYT best seller, a successful series, and a big-budget Sci-Fi film. Not sure if I’d want Vin Diesel to star, or Jason Statham. But, since I’m picturing one of the two, I think I must want a bald hero. Must write one of those so the movie can be made.
Really, when I dream big, I want comfortable living, college tuition for the kids, and no debt. That’s the perfect dream future for me.
Ella, darling! Dreaming big means you don’t have to pick! You can have Vin AND Jason 😉
Okay, I’m going to push you because, knowing you and the fam, that last paragraph isn’t dreaming big – it’s totally doable with your smart children and dedicated spouse – dream something for you!
Oh no sorry, I’m being serious. You said dream BIG right? Sorry, my brain is a bit sci-fi today. I’m @SuzKorb by the way :O)
LOL Okay – you never know!
It’s great to dream that big – I wish I could teach people to make the jump that easily… I’m going to push you to jump less sci-fi’y and dream big again. Don’t delete that. Who knows, in this lifetime it could happen! But *add* to it – things for you
Ok. Dreaming big.
I’d have plenty of money, of course – I don’t need excess, but enough that my accountant is the one who keeps track of bill due dates, not me.
I’d have a couple of kids to keep my husband occupied, time to home school them and teach them about a world bigger than the go to school/come home world.
I’d have the time to do things like go to the gym or train for a marathon, cook wonderful meals for each meal time (or better, I’d have a personal chef to do that for me), write, read for pleasure, be with my family, travel in Europe (I want to see Scotland, Spain’s Alhambra, Germany, everything – I’d take “European tours” of old where people packed up for three months and went on a tour of The Continent).
My “dreaming big” isn’t so much about “things” as “time”. A big lovely house with a gorgeous office and an indoor pool would be nice but what I’d really like is a “life of leisure” in the basic definition, wherein the tasks I undertake are undertaken out of desire rather than external necessity (financial) or obligation (friends, family, etc.).
Thanks so much to Bria for doing this – really excited about the next installment!
Actually, Em, that’s not bad – It did get a little vague (she warned me in an email LOL) but I think you pretty much have your dream life painted out here.
Hope if you’re playing along, you’re ready for the next step tomorrow!
ALSO, ANYONE CAN JUMP IN AT ANY TIME DURING THE SERIES 😉
Thanks Sabrina – We’ll see if you still like it in about a week 😉
My dreaming big would really be simple…I’m a simple girl. Mine would be about getting published and doing so well that I could quit my day job and write full time. That would be the ultimate.
For my family, I’d like my husband to be able to retire and raise/breed his cockatiel flock full time. And for my daughter to step it up and make good grades so that the college of her dreams would offer her a full scholarship! LOL. That’s really out there.
This is a great start, but you know what I’m going to say, right 😉
What do you want to publish? How much? What do you want to be *known* for?
And the second paragraph, you fell into the trap every wife and mom seems to – NONE of that was for you. I understand that see your family happy is a big part of you being happy, but being a full person makes you happy (and thus, it goes both ways, makes them happy)
What do you want to see? Where do you want to go? Things you want for yourself.
So I’m pushing back on you to dream big… FOR YOU!
Oh ka-ka!!! You’re right, lol! We wives and moms…especially the mom part…live so much for our families. But I will say that it does tie in. My daughter getting a scholarship isn’t just about her happiness…it’s about less money coming out of my pocket! (Score! Big dream for me!) My hubby getting his dream is just…well let’s just say when he’s happy everyone is happy! LOL.
But back to me… :)) Currently I want to find a great agent who will fall in love with my Paranormal Women’s Fiction “Seeing Alex” and help me get it published. I’d love for an editor to say “Hey, that’s so awesome, Team Alex is the new Team Jacob, how about a six figure deal for three more books, and I want you to do this so focused that I’ll give you an advance to cover you quitting your job so you can write full time.”
Yep. That’d be sweet. Then he/she would look at my first book and tell me everyone was nuts to pass on it because it’s awesome too.
And then since I’ll have comfortable finances, I want to travel with my hubby between books…(since going back to first post he’ll be retired). And visit my daughter at that shiny college of hers. 🙂
K…is that better? LOL
MUCH better. Don’t feel bad – EVERY mom (especially) does it! Love how you tied the scholarship in!
Where are some places you’d most love to see?
I’d like to travel the US for one…see the East coast, I’ve been most everywhere else….but I’d like to be surprised. Then Italy, Ireland, Bali, Greece, Australia, etc etc etc…
Oh I forgot about losing weight…that’s a big dream for me too. I’d like to get my old body back.
Oooh, big dreaming. This is kinda fun.
I want to write NYT bestselling YA novels, with the fame and fortune of Stephen King. I want some of the books to become Hollywood movies and some to turn into television series. I want to touch young lives and entertain.
I want to own a modest-sized home with ample room for a garden and whatever else I may want to do. I want to never worry about finances again. I want to live comfortably and be able to do whatever I want.
This may not sound big, but for me it is. Yes, I want a bank account with several million dollars, but I don’t want to live the lifestyle of a millionaire. 🙂 That’s it. lol
LOL I LOVE your last one… the bank account but not the lifestyle. That’s me, except for the travel. After doing the Diva Drive around the country last year, I’ve got itchy feet.
So, this dream modest house – is it anywhere special?
I’m not sure. My thoughts have been, in the suburbs because I’d like a pool for the kids and me, swings, garden, etc. But I can also see looking at long windows of my office and seeing water, whether it be overlooking water from up high or out at the beach. I go back and forth.
I’m the same way – I want a house like I grew up in: Easy to get to the city, but I can let the dog out in the morning and back in at night LOL