Goals! (bleh!)

I do not like goal setting.  Let me rephrase that – I do not like writing down goals.  We all have goals, plans and dreams.  But then along comes some bean counter management type and convinces everyone that a goal not only has to be written down, but the goal has to be measurable in order to count or it doesn’t exist.  I think this is so they can mock you if you don’t attain your goals.  The other dastardly thing these management types do is they tie your compensation to the goals!  I’ve discovered through many decades of employment that not making all of your goals is often used as a means of withholding raises and bonuses.  “Sorry, Floozy, you missed getting the raise by thiiiis much, better luck next year.”  And if you happen to make all of the goals it’s “Sorry, Floozy, raises aren’t in the budget this year, but atta’ girl for reaching those goals.”

So why write goals and share them in a public format?  Well, it forces me to commit (for the time being at least) to completing the goal.  And secondly, I have to admit, it feels good to reach a goal.  It’s the whole “the end of a thing is better than its beginning” thing from Ecclesiastes.  Really – I mean really – there’s always great fanfare and hope at the beginning of a project, but it doesn’t compare to the satisfaction (and sometimes relief) felt at the end of a project.  The end of some projects signal the nightmare is over and a semblance of sanity can return.  Yes, Cthulhu and the gods of Chaos are behind most projects.

The Actual Goals

Without further grumbling here are my goals for 2019:

•  Paint 520 figures, that averages to 10 figures a week.  An attainable stretch goal would be to paint 600 figures in 2019.  A starry eyed goal would be to reduce the pile of unpainted figures by 1,000.  My bets are on the 520 figures – my inner child wants to do the 1,000 (silly kid).
•  Write and sell 4 scenario books in 2019.  I wrote 2 in 2018 and I think I’m getting better at this writing thing.  An attainable stretch goal would be to write 6 gaming related books in 2019.  A starry eyed goal would include a novel along with the scenario books.  My bets are on the stretch goal of writing 6 gaming related books.
•  Lose x pounds.  Yeppers, it’s no fun being a “fat” floozy.  How many pounds is ‘x’?  Well a lady doesn’t tell, but a floozy will brag about it if it happens.  I hope I get to brag at the end of 2019!
•  Take 2 road trips in 2019.  It’s been too long, since I’ve taken any day trips to visit the many interesting Old West historical sites in the area.  The release of “Six Gun Sound: Devils Elbow” has given the Floozy the urge to visit the Tascosa ghost town (it was the Deadwood on the Southern Plains before Deadwood).  I’m also traveling out to Las Cruces and the surrounding area later in the year to look for a cheaper place to live.  As a stretch goal – I need to make it back to Ft. Davis and the McDonald Observatory in the Fall.  There’s nothing like the Fall for star gazing through a telescope and attending a Star Party.
•  Attend MilleniumCon in Austin.

That’s it.  Five goals.  Oh, I could have included more, more goals that would mostly be ignored.  An easy sixth one would by to advance my World of Warcraft character to level 90, but I might get bored and start a new character.  Five, I think I can handle working toward these five.

In Other News…

The week before Christmas was busy.  There was the clinic’s Christmas party, which was a blast.  And there was another party – a retirement party.  The young folk at the clinic threw a party for their oldest employee, the Floozy.  The Floozy has retired from the field of massage therapy and body work.  There was a marvelous cake!  Huge & chocolate!

Don’t worry, the Floozy won’t be sponging off the government.  She’s going to try this writing thing full time.

Shameless Plugs

Starting immediately, you will notice the following change to my blog – shameless plugs.  It’s quite simple.  I could choose to do ads or I could plug my own work.  So each post will have a plug at the end advertising my work.  Doing so, will count as advertising and therefore paying the annual hosting costs of the blog becomes a deductible business expense.  So expect me to hawk my wares at the end of each post.  (Honestly, I don’t know why you haven’t already rushed out and bought them!)

I hope you’re all enjoying the holidays and looking forward to next year.  And if you have to set goals, set some good ones.  Wally’s goal of replacing his soul with coffee sounds like a good one.  And don’t worry about deadlines – they make a lovely whooshing sound as they go by!