World of Words# 16: “Closing out 2019 & Looking forward to 2020: - Getting it Done!”

Fellow writers,

As we close out one decade and head into a brand new one, I want to remind all of us about the importance of taking action and getting things done. I thought this post was especially important for a couple of reasons:

One, as we close out the year and reflect on our accomplishments as well as our missed opportunities, I think it is important to ask ourselves: did I get everything done that I set out to do this year? If not, why not? And what could I have done better? What stopped me from getting everything done?

Two, as we look forward to and plan for 2020, we should look for any lessons learned from 2019. We should also plan our upcoming year with optimism and a mindset that we will push ourselves beyond our comfort zone and our limits with a goal of accomplishing more than we ever have before.

When it comes to being a writer, as with many other occupations, we can plan and plot and plan and plot until the sun goes down and rises again. However, as we all know, none of that planning will mean a thing if we don’t actually put pen to paper and get the words written. We can plot and outline and tweak and adjust and dream all we want, but at the end of the day, the project requires one non-negotiable thing: you sitting down (or standing up) and writing the actual words. There is no way around this, at least not until they invent some sort of app that writes your stories as soon as you think of them. But even then, we will still have to make the effort of writing; even if it’s just in our mind.

So, again, as we close out 2019, let’s not worry about our mistakes and missed opportunities. Instead, let’s learn from those things and seek out ways to get better. But let’s also make sure we remember our victories as we look forward to continuing to win in 2020 and beyond.

I hope we all have a happy and blessed New Year.

We’ll see you next year, but until then: write on!