By Jennifer Heeren, @HeerenJennifer
I didn’t live up to my writing goals from January. I’m not where I wanted to be by the end of the first quarter of 2023.
Life issues got in the way. I didn’t sit down to write as much as I should have, but I will not let this get me down. Life will always get in the way. Worries and complications mean that you have people you care for and love. This is the essence of life and the second commandment—love your neighbor as yourself. And, people’s interactions are fodder for our writings.
I simply remember that mercies and new chances are new each morning, as well as each quarter of the year. I can treat April 1 as a new January 1 because it is a new season. I can get ready for second quarter productivity, even though my first quarter didn’t work out as I planned.
My first step is to make an honest review of my first quarter. It may not have been what I dreamed it would be, but did I get anything accomplished? When I analyze the three-month period, I realize I wrote. I wrote and published some articles, some blogs, and I organized and did some writing on my current WIP. Even if it wasn’t everything on my list, I did something. While still pressing on to do more, I can celebrate the small wins.
Next, I can write my new second quarter of 2023 goals. What can I reasonably get done in this brand new quarter? If I want to, I can make the goal smaller than my first quarter goal, but I don’t have to. Every quarter is different. I may get even more done in the second quarter than I did in the first one.
Then, the most important step is to break down that goal into the steps that it will take to accomplish it. A quarter has approximately twelve weeks, so twelve steps is a good breakdown. Each week, I don’t have to concentrate on the entire goal. I can simply accomplish one piece of it.
By the end of the quarter, even if I don’t accomplish the entire goal, I should be able to say something like, “But I got nine out of twelve of the steps done. It won’t be much longer before I complete the entire goal.”
That’s progress!
Pressing toward the Goal
I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
~ Philippians 3:12-14 NLT
A novella memoir that dreams of a time where all people are equal.
Callie Brandonfeld once lived on a beautiful plantation in southern Virginia, where tall oak and magnolia trees offered shade. In the spring, blossoms perfumed the air. Yes, it was an idyllic place to grow up, except when it wasn’t.
It was early summer of 1858 when eighteen-year-old Callie ran away from her family home. She was desperate to find a place where all people are treated like people, not possessions. Would she ever find such a place? And could she survive the long journey to get there?
Jennifer Heeren wants to live in a way that her writing and her attitude encourage people. She loves to write devotional articles and stories that bring people hope and encouragement. Her cup is always at least half-full, even when circumstances aren’t ideal. She regularly contributes to Crosswalk. She lives near Atlanta, Georgia with her husband. Visit her at her website, on Facebook, and Amazon.