Yesterday’s gone, tomorrow doesn’t exist and right now is all there is.

Yes, I’ve heard it too. But it doesn’t stop me from looking back over the past twelve months and thinking about what I want to do next year.

On a success scale of 1 to 10, where one is complete failure to ten being an epic success, I’d rate 2016 about a 6.

Am I being fair? I’m not sure. But here are just a few of the things I achieved.

✓ Started a new position with the same company at a higher pay
✓ Published Lethal Instincts – a prequel novella
✓ Published Lethal Aftershock – a sequel novella
✓ Drafted Lethal Games – book 4 in the Lexi Ryder series
✓ Ran the Mother’s Day Classic 8km
✓ Spent a week in Fiji
✓ Ran the Fiji 5km and came 3rd female (awesome!)
✓ Spent a week in Hawaii (epic!)
✓ Increased my social calendar activities by saying YES more often
✓ Started construction on the house (sort of)
✓ 15 Email Subscribers
✓ Sold  98 books
✓ Gave away over 1,596 books

But I don’t feel successful. I don’t even feel happy. It’s been an emotionally turbulent year and I’m working on getting all my ducks in a row. The most important is my family’s health and the rest will slowly fall into place.

Deep inside I’m feeling like a failure and that sucks big time.

I need to shift gears. Stop taking so much on and focus on the little things more.

In 2017, I don’t want to work harder. I want to work smarter. I also need to be grateful for the little things.

I’ve been meaning to write and publish this post for the past week. Call it laziness, call it procrastination, call it whatever you want but I haven’t been able to get motivated to do much writing at all lately.

Then it hit me: motivation isn’t going to come knocking on my door. I need to seek the motivation to keep me going forward with my dreams, with my goals, with the habits I’m chasing.

It’s up to me to make a change. Just the same as it’s up to you to create change, joy and excitement in your own life.

Imagine December 31st 2017, what are some of the goals you want to be ticking off your list? What’s important to you? How hard are you willing to work for what you want? Is 2017 going to be the year that you achieve your wildest dreams?

Do you find yourself setting the same goals each year?

Hmm, me too. I’ve noticed that my productivity wavers between the years. One year I’m all about hard work and achieving lots and then the next year is just a downer. It’s weird and frustrating and has to stop.

But I do have to learn to take it easy sometimes. Which is why this morning I spent two hours lying a blanket under a tree by the beach after dropping my son off at kindy then I treated myself to a nice lunch while I wrote and thought about what I want to achieve in 2017.

When you consider your goals you need to think about the following:

Do you really want it?
How hard are you willing to work for it?
What’s your plan for achieving them?
Are the goals difficult but realistic?
Can you break them down into bite-sized pieces?

MY 2017 GOALS

1) Start and finish the construction of my house.

That should finally start mid January and hopefully be completed by August. Fingers crossed. All the finance and paperwork and contracts are organised so it’s just a matter of the builder getting started.

By 31 December 2017 I’m living in my newly built home with my husband and son, and I’ve done up an awesome home office full of inspiration for writing.

2) Write and publish three fiction books and one non-fiction book (that’s 4 books in 2017).

There are four quarters in the year so one book per quarter. I can write a book a month, then spend a month editing and the third month preparing for publication. Ok, I’m being super optimistic here!

By 31 December 2017 I have seven books on the market which are selling, getting positive reviews and bringing me at least $1000 in side income each month.

3) Complete the 70.3 Ironman in Ballarat in under 6 hours.

This race is in December. I’ve did a 70.3 before I had my son and I’d like to do it again but giving myself a year to prepare rather than just the five months I had previously. There will also be a few fun runs and a half marathon (maybe a full) somewhere in the middle – signing up for these events keeps me motivated to train.

By 31 December 2017 I’ve trained hard all year, injury-free, and am comfortably finishing the 70.3 in under 6 hours with the bike leg under 3.2 hrs and the run leg under 2 hrs with my family watching on the sidelines cheering me on.

4) Earn $25,000 from freelancing, blogging, books and side hustles.

That equates to $2500 per month. While this figure won’t allow me to quit my job and work for myself it will help me reduce my mortgage and give me funds to travel.

By 31 December 2017 I have two websites that are getting 15,000+ views per month and are earning me an income through affiliate marketing, sponsored posts and products sales.

5) Travel to three new places this year.

The places on my mind are New Zealand, Barossa Valley and Tasmania. Earning extra side income will help me achieve this. The places aren’t set in stone though, I’ll be looking for specials throughout the year.

By 31 December 2017 I have spent a weekend at the Barossa Valley in April, followed by a week in Tasmania in July, and a long weekend in October in New Zealand.

6) Increase my personal savings to $15,000+.

While the mortgage is priority, I’d like to have cash sitting on the side as a safety net.

By 31 December 2017 I’m saving at least 15% of my income from each pay which has been automated as well as putting aside at least 50% of my side hustle income.

7) Read at least 78 books in 2017 of which 26 are non-fiction.

By 31 December 2017 I’m averaging about 1.5 books per week and getting through my Goodreads ‘want to read’ bookshelf.

8) Become a better writer

By 31 December 2017, I’ve developed good writing habits, I’ve challenged myself within different genres and styles of writing. I’m expanding my vocabulary and I’m constantly pushing my abilities to continue to grow as a writer.

These are just 8 of my goals for the year that will be conducive to my happiness and satisfaction. I’m being challenged physically and mentally providing me with the balance I crave.

How do you envision your 2017 turning out? What goals have you set for yourself? What are you going to achieve them?