10 for 2024: Third Quarter Check-In

Almost forgot about this, but here's the Third Quarter Check-In:

10 For 2024

1. Book 4: Get this book into draft form (close to, if not ready to launch-- fingers crossed!) by the end of the year. I have some other writing goals as well, but this is going to be my big, main focus for the year.

I'm still grinding with Book 4. (Currently on a draft of Chapter 7) after getting some eyes on what I have, I'm fairly sure that the final draft is going to be structured differently than the current story I have in mind, but for now, the big picture goal here is to get it all down on paper and then see what I've got to work with and go from there.

In big, genuine, real-life news: Paid Posts are live on Substack. I don't think I did the best job with the first two rounds, but I'm getting better at this (always the goal) and should have them nicely packaged with free previews moving forward. Speaking of: my first novella launches over there today! (I'm planning on wide-release of that early next year.)

2. Get Another Tattoo: I might get really crazy and get two! (But for real: no reason why it can't happen this year. Money is being accumulated. The date just needs to be set to do the deed.)

Behold:

3. The Health Thing: Okay, so I'm going to get away from numbers on scales this year. It's just a waste of my time and a waste of this space. But I do need to do something here, so I'm going to aim for the following: a. ten minutes of activity a day (kettlebell, walking, stretching-- whatever, something!), b. eat more protein-- I'm going to aim for 100g of protein a day, but we'll see how that goes and c. be outside more, especially with the kids.  

Intermittent fasting is back on the menu. Still trying to get back to a semi-regular workout habit, but I've been hitting the treadmill and the Boflex at least once a week. Going to try and make it more.

4. Uncomfortable Confession Time: I have never been super good at managing money. I've been very much of a hand-wavey, stagger into the next month like a college student on a post-Finals bender type of a money manager and I'm getting kind of embarrassed by it. The goal for this year-- I don't think I'll be Dave Ramsey or Suzie Orman by year's end, but I would like to actively not be shit at the money thing.

*sigh*

5. I think I could stand to be a better listener. A more active, present listener who actually absorbs what's being said to me and acts on it. In general, just being more active and present in my own life is something that I would like to work on. Not sure how I'm going to measure this one, but I'm putting it down anyway.

Still not sure how to measure this one.

6. I pitch a good game with ambitious projects and things to do, but I could be better at taking the lead/initiative on all of these things. I'm not sure how I'm going to measure this one either, but I'm putting it down anyway. 

Or this one.

7. House Projects: Since I couldn't make grass grow last year, I'm targeting a trio of projects for this year. Redoing our Master Bedroom, Built-In Bookshelves for the Living Room, and some shelves for the Kid's Room.

...ugh, I'm bad at this. But we desperately need a new toilet flapper, so maybe I can accomplish that much before the end of the year.

8. Reading: I'm tempted to go all out for 50, but instead, I'm going to keep it modest and go for 40 books this year. I think that's achievable. Here's the Official TBR List for 2024, if you want to follow along. 

I'm not doing so hot here either. Goodreads has me 7 books behind schedule as of this writing, but I'm about to make up that deficit in a big way, being close to completion of three books. We'll see if I can get back on track.

9. Duolingo: I've been hitting Spanish pretty intensely these past couple of months-- in the New Year, I want to get back on a regular rotation of my languages and hit at least 1,000 days on my streak. (Plus, win the Diamond League at least once, if I can.)

I am going to hit this one. 993 day streak as of this writing.

10. The Annual Control Resolution: Have a List of New Year's Resolutions. (There, I'm guaranteed not to be a complete failure at this.)

Completed! 

So as of this writing, I've got two in the bag and a third one on track for completion. The reading goal might take some doing, but could still be possible. At least 30% success at this point AND there's the possibility of bumping it up to 40% (or higher, depending on how I want to evaluate some of the other resolutions on this list.)

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