Good morning and happy New Year! 2018 is beginning with the continued fulfillment of goals I set in 2017. For the last two years, I have been laying the groundwork of my business, Survive Your Story. Through it, I teach writing through trauma, mostly through one-on-one coaching of writers at every level as they work to release difficult stories and reframe their experiences. Survive Your Story is about writing to release and recover.

Last year I created a goal for myself to host on-location workshops and attend retreats. I did one of each. This year, I've decided to host more workshops and retreats from home. I set this goal in October and was invited by Jai Maa to co-facilitate a ReGrouping retreat while she is here visiting Bloomington, IN as part of her Breakthrough Your Threshold tour.

Seeking, accepting, co-facilitating and hosting this retreat are all items from my 2018 To Do List, so I'm off to a solid start. Even if the retreat were to fall through, even if no one came, even if I flubbed my portion--there is still so much success here. I am grateful to begin the year accomplishing goals I have been steadily working toward.

I have many goals for Survive Your Story. I hope to share more about what I am doing as the year continues. You already know about Story House, the building on our property we are renovating and from which I will host retreats and workshops. But there is so much more.

One smaller goal is to start bullet journaling. I signed up for a class with Alexis Donkin. It's on FB, and you can sign upfor only $20 even though the class has happened. The video will be available to you in the FB group. It's amazing, and she just keeps adding resources, so it's a gift to yourself that keeps on giving.

I see many people finding a word for their year. Mine could be "fruition," I suppose. If you are in goal-setting mode, don't forget that some goals for 2018 can be steps toward greater goals one, two or even five years down the road. I began teaching Writing through Trauma through a local Unity church. I built up a student following, obtained testimonies and wrote about my experiences teaching. I began finding more clients through my writing about what I do. Through a support group I facilitate for artists and survivors, I made deep and lasting connections that turned into new jobs and partnerships.

Working toward long-term goals requires the following (and bullet journaling can help with all of them):

Patience.

You have to be willing to wait for the fruits of your labor not just to ripen, but for the entire tree to grow.

Realism.

You need to be aware of how big the goals are that you are setting. Be willing to reset your goals every quarter if you find one came quickly but another isn't truly achievable on the timetable you set.

Persistence.

This is part of patience and realism. They all go hand in hand. Remember what you are working toward and be willing to invest in your dream.

What dreams are you planting in 2018?

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