What I want to achieve in 2023
I’m putting my goals for 2023 on full display. Universe, do you what you will.
Photo by Ashkan Forouzani
“The path from dreams to success does exist. May you have the vision to find it, the courage to get on to it, and the perseverance to follow it.”
I have a confession to make: I wrote my goals for 2023 in my notebook on Saturday, December 24, 2022. You don’t have to believe me if you don’t want to. I forgive you.
Before writing a long list of things I want to accomplish this year, I think it’s important to provide a bit of context.
Goal-setting is important (this is not new information), but what I think many articles and essays and books on goal-setting lack is grounding goals in a vision for what you want to achieve.
I’m a big fan of vision work. And no, not The Secret version of vision work. I’m not talking about laying on your back, closing your eyes, and dreaming of everything you want, and voila…everything magically appears.
A vision statement describes a future state in which you want a project, or in this case, life, to aspire to. And that’s the key word: ASPIRE. To create a vision is to provide a description of an aspiration. It creates an image of what something should look, sound, and feel like once that thing has been achieved.
A vision statement is used to guide actions, goals, strategies, habits, routines, resources, mindset, etc. In short, having a vision statement for what you want to achieve gives you a built-in BS-detector for when you’re doing things not aligned to your vision; it focuses all of your goals and actions under one umbrella.
My Vision
My vision is to be a healthy, active and loving husband and father who provides for his family financially as a successful professional writer of produced screenplays for television and film, and published novels, short stories, and essays.
Goals for 2023
One final note before I list my goals for this year. I don’t write smart goals. I don’t lock myself into strict time-bound deadlines. I know both of those practices are best practices for goal-writing, but for me I find that the more “smart” my goal is the more stress and anxiety I have about meeting that goal.
Goals are about mental focus and inspiration, not anxiety and tension.
Personal Goals - These goals are focused on deepening my relationships with my wife, kids, family, and friends.
Take my wife out on a date once a month.
Take each one of my kids out for some dad-son time.
Teach my youngest son how to ride a bike.
Take my kids hiking.
Call an old friend from Chicago at least once a month to catch up.
Meet up with a friend in real life or on Zoom from California or from screenwriting events.
Mail postcards once a month to someone.
Put my phone away when I get home from work and on the weekends to be more present with my family.
Call a family member once a month.
Professional Goals - These goals are focused on improving my skills at work and building my career as a professional writer.
Implement Amazon’s memo-writing practice on the projects I’m working on at work. Anyway that I can incorporate more writing, the better.
Complete my preliminary administrative services credential.
Build the content on my website:
Publish 36 newsletters this year (breaks down to 3 newsletters per month).
Publish 24 flash fiction stories (breaks down to 2 stories per month).
Publish 12 essays/articles (breaks down to 1 essay/article per month).
Complete Go Into the Story’s daily scene writing challenge (write one scene a day for 30 days).
Complete Go Into the Story’s daily story idea challenge (write one story idea a day for 30 days).
Write a pilot.
Write a feature.
Make a short film on my iPhone.
Submit my work to fellowships and publications.
Attend Austin Film Festival.
Develop some kind of business strategy/distribution/exposure for my writing and me.
Participate in Nanowrimo.
Tell a story at The Moth.
Take an acting class/act in a play.
Start a podcast - A Pod Called Frank (I have this niche idea for a podcast that I really, really want to make).
Individual Goals - These goals are focused on my emotional, physical, and mental health.
Read at least 12 books (breaks down to 1 book per month).
Ride my bike.
Eat more home-cooked meals.
Write Homework for Life every day in Evernote.
Journal once a week.
One Day at a Time
“Every creator painfully experiences the chasm between his inner vision and its ultimate expression.”
Throughout the year I’ll do my best to share my progress on my goals. I’m excited for the new year and what opportunities and challenges will present themselves.
Regardless of whether I meet all these goals or not doesn’t really matter. What matters is the on December 31, 2023 I’m a better version of me on February 6, 2023.
What is your vision for yourself? What are the goals you want to achieve that will bring you closer to that vision? Share your vision and goals in the comments below.
