GOAL!

(You'll have to imagine me shouting the title with a crowd of people.)

Now that we are a few days into the New Year I thought I’d better get my ‘resolution’ blog posted.  Only problem, I don’t have any resolutions this year.  After my complete resolution debacle last year, I think I’m officially never making another New Year’s Resolution again.

The short story on 2011’s resolution:

Jan 1, resolved to exercise at least 4 days a week

Jan 3, fell on stairs and injured knee

Jan 4 – Feb 21, continued to stick to resolution even with increased knee pain

Jun 21, had micro fracture surgery on left knee

Nov 21, had partial knee replacement because previous surgery didn’t stop the pain

I’m not saying that my resolution is to blame for all of this, but I certainly don’t want to set myself up for failure.  So this year, instead of making a resolution, I’m going to set myself a goal, the goal of finding an agent.

(I’m not a soccer fan, but this is the best analogy I can think of.)

In soccer, there is ultimately one player who kicks the ball into the net (Me).  Your teammates assist by blocking, passing, etc (Family, Friends, Critique Partners).  The other team members are your obstacles (editing and polishing your manuscript, writing and sending query letters, writing a synopsis, researching agents, finding time to do all this, life in general).  The goalie on the other team is your ultimate obstacle.  It’s the one thing you can’t rely on anyone else to help you get past. It’s the one thing standing between you and your goal.  It’s the one thing that is with you all the time, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  You eat and sleep with it.  You even go to the bathroom with it.

It’s YOU.

You are the only thing that will ultimately stand in front of your goal.

It’s you against you and this year I am getting out of my own way, even if I have to plow myself down to get the ball in the net (obviously that’s not legal in soccer, but hey, it’s my analogy).

Here's a little soccer inspiration for you and I’d love to hear what your ‘goals’ are for 2012.  Feel free to share some tips with the rest of us as well.