For 2022

Another year has passed. Though I have fallen short of many goals for 2021, in the interest of maintaining a positive outlook, I’m only going to focus on my achievements from the previous year and my new goals for 2022.

I started 2021 with the goal of reading 15 books by December 31. I listed a number of specific titles, some I’ve already read but wanted to read again, and a few professional, non-fiction books to progress my new-for-2021 career in sales. Amazingly, I surpassed that goal by reading 20 books, as well as a dozen or more individual short stories, even some children’s stories as a reviewer for up and coming new authors. I didn’t read many of the titles I prelisted for 2021, but as an active participant on Pubby, I read many new titles from new authors that I wouldn’t have read otherwise, and I thoroughly enjoyed most of them.

For 2022, I’m upping my game and shooting for 22 books in 2022. New titles I’m adding to my 22-in-22 list are some fan favorites that I’ve wanted to read for a long time like The Great Gatsby and several spiritual books from C.S. Lewis, most notably The Screwtape Letters. Not connected to the 22-in-22 goal, but a reading goal nevertheless, is my goal to finally finish the Holy Bible from start to finish. I’ve read every book of the Old Testament at least once, and I’ve read straight through the New Testament once before, but I’ve never completed the scripture in full immersion study like I have tried to do for more than three years now. It is an obtainable goal, but it requires a great deal of commitment. I generally start strong, but inevitably fail to achieve as the year progresses, so the goal is back on the scoreboard.



Yes, I have a scoreboard. Goals just aren’t goals if they aren’t written down. Every Sunday morning I open up my scoreboard and verify my weekly achievements. At the end of each month, those achievements are annotated in their proper place so I can see if I’m on track and make adjustments as necessary. Each annual goal is divided into 12 parts and categorized under one of five categories: Spiritual, Physical, Mental, Professional, or Personal.

My reading goals are actually placed into three of the five categories. Under Spiritual is of course my Bible study; Professional includes any reading designed to improve my career, and Personal includes reading for entertainment, other spiritual reading and reading designed to progress my education in other matters outside of my career. It is just easier to list any reading outside of the Bible or professional in personal goals though the Mental category does include the tracking nodes to total the aggregate personal and professional reading for each month.

The Mental category also lists the total monthly hours of Bible study, professional study, other study, hours spent learning the dulcimer, vacation and trip plans to reduce stress and finally my total words written for the year. Last year I set a goal to write 120,000 words. I came across that number based on the average number of words Stephen King writes in a year. I didn’t make 120,000 words, but again, I’m focusing on the achievements. I wrote a little more than 88,000 words in 2021 and I’m incredibly proud of that. For 2022, I’m renewing my goal to finish 120,000 words. In 2021, the 88,000 words was divided among many projects with the most, about 30,000 words so far going to the second book in my Lil’s Spirits series, Sorrow Hollow. I wrote a little more than 7000 words toward a spontaneous, psychological thriller, The Mad Dr. Drennan; I put about 4000 words into another Lil’s Spirits installment tentatively titled Talon for now; somewhere around 12,000 words on short stories and poems for various writing prompts and contests from Vocal, Medium and Fanstory among others, and the rest in the form of blog entries and such.

For 2022, I’ll finish and publish Sorrow Hollow; finish and publish Talon and the Mad Dr. Drennan, and get started on a sequel to A Place of Rest from the first Lil’s Spirits book as well as start another comedy. These are ambitious goals, but they are nothing if not written down and monitored.

In 2021, my reading and writing goals monopolized the majority of my efforts, but this year I want to be more rounded and diversified to include the wholeness of my life. New to my scoreboard this year is the activities related to progressing my career. There are things I can control and things I can only monitor, but clearly within my control and foundational to my success is my effort to find leads, so I’ve committed myself to finding and calling 600 qualified businesses per week.

Finally, I’m renewing my physical goals for the New Year. I did well in 2020 to lose weight and increase my physical fitness; I maintained that for 2021, but I’m doubling down for 2022. I’m reaching for a target weight of 220 lbs, which amounts to a weight loss of about 50 lbs. More importantly, is the physical training that I desperately need to recuperate my body from the remnants of my near-death experience with COVID last year.

I suppose I could blame the virus for stealing a month of my goal reaching for 2021, but there is no room for excuses in 2022. In this new year I will read, write, live, love and pray. I will remain focused through monitoring my progress weekly and one year from now, Lord willing, I will find joy in my success in the old year and prepare for the next.

Lil's Spirits: This Side of the Veil
Archibald Lindsey's Study of Women