Writing Stuff, Part 1: Monday Blogs

#MidYearResolutions

I love this time of year. It’s mid-year. Half-way through 2020 and if you haven’t noticed, 2020 hasn’t exactly been perfect. Readers know I love New Year’s Resolutions. I love making big, bold proclamations of amazing things I’m about to do, and then I track my progress. Some people say, “what’s the point of New Year’s Resolutions,” and quote statistics like 80% of people don’t follow through on their resolutions after 30-days.

But I say…

It’s never a bad time to make a promise to yourself.

Plus, right now (not sure when you’ll be reading this, but this was written in the wake of the George Floyd murder and the demonstrations and protests that followed) it’s a REALLY GOOD time to look in the mirror and make new promises to yourself to be better. To be part of a better society. To be part of a better America.

I call them Mid-Year Resolutions (#MidYearResolutions). Time to look back at what you said you’d do at the start of the year, analyze the results, revise and edit those resolutions, then continue or re-start.

Me? My big ones at the beginning of the year were . . .

• Write a book (I’m 40,000 words into it and I know how it ends and where I’m going)
• Weigh 150 pounds (I’m stuck at 158)
• Get a new job (did it)
• Fix my Blog (halfway there)

I had many, many other resolutions. I’ll be looking at all of them and will either stay-the-course or course-correct.

#MondayBlogs

Which brings me to #MondayBlogs and something I’m going to start doing. See, my Blog is supposed to be an extension of all the amazing things I do (make salsa, write stuff, sell advertising, do social media, be a Dad, drink coffee, etc). I’ve come to terms that my Blog won’t ever be a singularly focused Blog about a single topic, but rather a proving grounds (some might call it a dumping ground) for so many things.

#MondayBlogs is a thing by BadRedhead Media (aka Rachel Thompson) started in 2012 to help Bloggers connect with other Bloggers and find readers, fans, and collaborators for their writing. If a few dozen fellow Bloggers happen upon my Blog and give me encouragement, or constructive criticism, or ask me to guest Blog on their Blogs, or …heck …they can tell me they HATE my Blog. It’s all good.

The point is this: I’ve been Blogging for more than a decade. I’m not rich and famous because of it. I’ve done many, many things wrong. But also done some things right – things like HAVE a Blog for a decade. That’s a big first step.

The rest of 2020 will bring a more disciplined focus on getting to 150 pounds, getting my book completed (just this morning my wife told me how to re-write the opening to make it better), and making this Blog more organized and interesting.

What’s on your To-Do (Again) List? What New Year’s Resolutions will you dust off and start again and turn into Mid-Year Resolutions? What are you most proud of so far in 2020?

Tomorrow on the Blog: My Father’s Day List