No Better Motivator Than Guilt

Happy New Year to all!

No resolutions-- I absolutely refuse to submit to making a list of things to accomplish this year, only to see none of them come to fruition.

I think making resolutions originated as well-meaning intentions (much like those well-meaning relatives who believe that a high-paying job, ten less pounds and a wedding band on one's finger are ingredients for happiness). They do have noble purpose, I suppose, but the positive motivation is misguided. The poor sap, the maker of the resolution, the recipient of the good will-- he (or she) finds himself in a deeper, muddier bog, feeling like they failed even worse than if they had left well-enough alone.

No, no resolutions for me. For certain though I will make a list instead of goals I would like to reach, but not anything I would cross-my-heart-promise to make good on.

Be specific, set the bar high, and do as much as can be done. Reassess and readjust. No room for failure, simply infinite space to expand and tailor the path to exactly where you want to be.

That said, I only have my eye on one prize this year. Any significant plans or moves I make will be in the direction of benefitting my writing. So what I've done so far is made a mental list of what I would like to achieve, and what I can potentially do, tiny step by tiny step, to achieve it.

Oh... did I mention anywhere in this spiel about the power of guilt?

Yes, I didn't promise myself that I would get right on a rigid writing schedule, come the turn of the year. What I did do was say that I would begin formulating my plan for successful and productive writing strategy when January rolled around.

I certainly didn't want to push myself and resent having to do something which would be a pleasure to me otherwise. I was going to take it easily, pace myself.

Of course, I didn't anticipate that seeing someone else begin their writing year in a more concrete way would egg me on to get in here and write something.

What a revelation: the keys to this thing called the New Years's Resolution is a little mix of competitive spirit and guilt.

Now what was all this talk of gentle self-motivation?