What Goals Do You Have for 2012?

I saw an interesting prompt the other day at Plinky Prompts which got me thinking.  The question was to name the top 3 most important things you want to accomplish this year.  Certainly this time of year is a good one and a traditional one for setting goals and evaluating where you are and where you want to go.  I had to think fairly hard to come up with three, so having done that I guess by definition they are my most important three.


My first goal would be to get my novel published. I worked hard to write my first ever novel and now I need to get down to revising and then looking at publishing options.  I would also like to publish a book of my poetry, but that fits into the same goal I guess of becoming a published author.


My second goal would be to become healthier so that I am not always fighting off a sinus infection or battling chronic pain.  Having been recently diagnosed with fibromyalgia as well as my other health issues, means that this goal will not be easily accomplished.  However, I am getting a hot tub next week and that is supposed to help with both pain and sinus issues, and I'm trying to monitor my activities so that I don't keep over-extending, and so forth.  I am hoping then that this goal will be achievable.


My third goal is the toughest of all.  I would like to stop living in a state of constant fear or terror.  I have discussed this in some previous posts and I do understand where many of my fears come from, but the living in fear certainly takes a major toll on me in a variety of ways.  What am I afraid of, you might ask.  I think it would be easier to ask what am I not afraid of.  I was apprehensive at least if not downright fearful, about returning to activities after the holiday break.  Would I still be able to do what was expected?  Would people still value what I'm doing? Etc.   The fears were, of course, totally groundless, as are most of my fears.  My stand alone freezer which holds about 1/2 of my frozen food was accidentally left unplugged and the food all spoiled.  Because I shop at our local organic market where these items are purchased by special order from the buyer's club, and because of the timing of the loss, I won't be able to replace those items until the end of  next week.  So that made me fearful that I would run out.  Again, this is silly because first, I have plenty in my freezer drawers in my fridge and even if I didn't I could replace things sooner by going to Thriftway.  Of course that is another thing I'm afraid of, but I went a couple weeks ago and it was fine, as are most things that I fear.  But knowing this in my head doesn't seem to help a lot.  I'm afraid I will fail or not meet other's expectations.  I'm afraid I will make mistakes.  These are longstanding fears from my being raised by a highly critical very perfectionist father.  I need to move beyond these fears since when I am held in their grip, I am my own worst enemy.


And so if I made significant progress on goal three, I wouldn't care so much about the other two, and achieving the first goal will be wonderful, but without either or both of the other two goals, the achievement of goal one won't be so fantastic.  I plan to work hard on achieving progress at least on all the goals.  The first goal is measurable and well within my grasp since I am very happy with self-publishing.  The goal just requires some disciplined creative time and energy, challenging but not insurmountable.  The other two goals are more abstract, lacking easily measurable components, but they are quality of life goals and so in the long run, more important.  If I can feel some better and not panic quite so easily that will be significant.  I suspect those two goals are also related.  If I worry less, have fewer fears, I suspect I will have more energy etc.


Anyway, those are my three goals for 2012.  Do you have things you want to accomplish this year?  Have you set goals?  And do you have a game plan for working toward those goals?  I want to wish all my readers all the very best for 2012 and beyond.  May your lives be filled with light, love, and joy!