Blog On The Motorway

For the first time in what is at least a decade, but possibly longer, I go into the new year full of hope and optimism for the year ahead.  Weird, I know, seeing as the world is going to hell in a hand-basket and it seems inevitable that World War 3 is just round the corner and that we will soon be rummaging for scraps out of dustbins, but I feel, well, positive. 

It’s a new look for me (to go along with the fulsome beard I am currently employing to keep my face warm) all this positivity, and who knows how long it will last, but whilst it is nestled into my personality, I may as well try to wring some accomplishments from it.  And after all, I promised myself I would have my life sorted by the time I’m 30.  I’ve achieved a hell of a lot in the last year, so who knows, maybe I can keep that promise to myself after all.

So here is my list of things that I fully expect to achieve in the year ahead.  I shall check back on them in roughly 12 months and see how well I’ve done.  So here we go:

• I will learn to drive.  Not only do I intend to do this, but I intend to pass my test and buy a car.
• I will start a degree.  I have enrolled on an Open University course in Computing and such related things, and by the end of the year should be onto my second module, and one out of five years closer to increasing my earning potential dramatically.
• I will move house.  Ellen and Rosie and I need somewhere bigger and better to live, with a garden for the little pickle to fall over in without grazing her knees.  And we need to think about school districts and other such boring fare.
• I will start a band.  This is already in the process of getting underway, but then I’ve been at this stage of assembling a band (all members agreed, about to start rehearsing and it falls apart before we even get a jam) so many times now that I’m going to get this done this year.
• I will work very hard on this site.  I have lots of ideas in mind for what to do with this place, but at the very least I want a redesign and a shift to new hosting done by the end of the year.
• I will diversify my sources of income.  This job just aint cutting the cheques any more, and I don’t really fancy entering this most overcrowded job market right now, so I will be trying to earn some extra cash.  I haven’t exactly worked out all the details on this yet, but my first thoughts are to get back into writing freelance, and getting into affiliate marketing.
• I will finish my Nano novel.  And not just the first draft, but a full working manuscript that I can start shopping around.  Ideally this should be done by November, as I will be writing book 2 as a Nano novel.

So yes.  Looks like a bloody lot when it’s all broken down like that, and I imagine there will be a few things that may fall by the wayside during the year, but I feel for now as though the impetus is there.  if anyone has any advice on any of these points, or simply wishes to taunt my inevitable lack of success, don’t hesitate to let me know.

And to all of you, Happy New Year.  Let’s hope this whole ‘end of the world’ thing doesn’t happen, eh?