ready for 2021 and for this godforsaken year to come to an end

2020 was, well…a year. For most of us, it wasn’t great (understatement of the year).

I’m ready for 2021. Next year has to be better. Right? RIIIIGHT? IT CAN’T GET ANY WORSE, RIIIIGHT?

But in all seriousness, I am cautiously optimistic about 2021. We have a vaccine for COVID-19 and Biden (GOD WILLING) will be president. Biden was far from my first choice in the primaries, and I’m sure he’s going to disappoint me, but he is empathetic, is competent, and cares about the work of being a president, which is a looooooooooooooooooooooooooot more than I can say for his predecessor.

Anyway…

Here were the goals I had in the beginning of 2020 –

Lose some goddamn weight – I am technically obese, so I really should do this. And I want to fit into my old clothes and/or avoid buying new clothes because I keep gaining weight. Along with losing some goddamn weight, I also want to exercise more. I’m getting more steps with the help of Stepbet and I bought some resistance bands that will hopefully help me get into shape.Write more – I really didn’t write as much as I wanted to in 2019. So many plans that failed to become reality! My maybe unattainable writing goals for 2020-Write 200,000 wordsRelease 20 storiesHave one of these stories be a novel (THE BRIDE OF HULI)Quit my job at some point (or get fired) – My 9 to 5 is really giving me an existential crisis. I do not want to do this shit for the rest of my life. If I’m going to do this for the rest of my life, MY GOD.

Did I meet these goals? HAHAHAHAHAHA.

Goal 1 of 2020 – I so did not lose weight. Thanks to the pandemic and the dumpster fire that is American politics, I stress ate sooooooo much. And I drank way too much (non-black, FATTENING) coffee.

Goal 2 – I did release over 20 stories. But I don’t think I’m going to hit 200,000 words and LOL, I did not even attempt to start a novel.

Goal 3 – I did quit my job. Not a wise decision, but I felt like I needed to do it. Might I regret it later when I have spent all of my savings and am begging for coins at the nearest 7-Eleven? Maybe (probably), but for now, I still believe it was the best decision for my mental health. Also, at my former workplace, there were a couple of Trump supporters and COVID-deniers, so I’m pretty sure I would’ve eventually gotten fired for losing my shit.

Anyway, I’m still going to set goals for 2021. Will I fail to reach them? Probably, but I’m going to try harder, damnit. (unless another pandemic comes along and I lose all motivation because the world is going to hell)

Goals for 2021-

Lose some goddamn weight.Write 300,000 words (unless I run low on savings and have to find a day job)Make more money with my writing and avoid having to find a day jobWrite The Bride of Huli, god-fucking-damn-it

If I’m being honest, in 2020, I did not really try my best. In 2021, I am determined to really try my best. And if my best is still not good enough, well, that will definitely suck, but at least I will know I have truly tried my hardest.

So next year, I’m still going to report my sad, sad, sad earnings, but I’ll report it a little differently. I will still do monthly reports, but instead of projected earnings, I am going to report actual royalties that show up in my (sad) bank account. And I am going to include business expenses (if I have any) and report if I’m in the red or in the black.

Anyway…

On the bright side, I did make more money with writing than I have in previous years! Which isn’t saying much, but it’s progress!

Anyway…

See you next month, when I will report my royalties for the first month of the new year!

Happy holidays, beautiful people.

With <3,

Isla