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Monday, January 4, 2016

New Year, New A to Z, New Goals!

Welcome to 2016! How has the year been treating you so far? Are you ready for your normal schedule to resume?



Do you still need time to recover from the holidays?



Here at the A to Z Challenge, we are working like busy little bees in the background to continue the A to Z excellence. We are in full on planning mode right now to making goals, making lists and filling in the details.



What are your goals for the A to Z Challenge for 2016?  Make sure you set deadlines for your goals, otherwise you won't get them finished in time. Plus, once you reach a goal, you can cross it off of your list and celebrate that victory!


Ok, so maybe you can't kill everyone in the room like James Bond but crossing off items on your to do list is very satisfying.

Another great thing about setting goals early is that as you are working through them you'll see where you need more work or you'll see what won't work. Starting early means you have plenty of time to change directions, change plans, or even start over.



Don't let procrastination be your guide for the 2016 Challenge. I've seen alot of well intentioned bloggers quite the challenge because they couldn't keep up. Which makes me sad.


The line I like the most in this quote is "expect to win." It's great, isn't it? If you set out to win and expect to win, you're bound to win, it's all in your head.  When I was a girl my piano teacher used to encourage me by giving me a pretend confidence pill.  If I had only swallowed that confidence pill I might have become a better piano player. Instead, I listened to all the bad notes and focused on my  incorrect finger positions rather than on the good bits that I played.  What I've learned from my piano teacher is that whether I win or not is all in my head.  I use this self talk every time I start a project.



To be sure, Teddy might not have participated in the A to Z Challenge but I bet he knew a thing or two about goals and deadlines! Don't let April catch up on you unawares. Start planning your part of the challenge now: choose your theme, collect your photos or your images, set up your computer folders and schedule your writing time now so when March and April come around you're ready. 



Don't end up like Scar. Be ready for the Challenge. I want you to complete it. I plan on having such an awesome 2016 Blogging Challenge that Morgan Freeman should narrate it.

Let's Do This People!


29 comments:

  1. What an inspirational post!
    I needed that.

    You make us sound awesome. :)
    Heather

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  2. I'm not sure I am ready, but you're helping me along. The AtoZ Team is indeed amazing.

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  3. Having participated in the challenge for the past three years, I can tell you early preparation is the key. Set up the shells to the posts this month or next, fill in your random thoughts or images. I have totally redrafted some posts a day or two before publishing.

    This really is a fun community, each year I discover new bloggers that I now follow.

    www.thriftshopcommando.blogspot.com

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    1. I love the idea of setting up shells. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time! Great tip thanks for sharing!

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  4. I plan to visit blogs during the challenge, but I am not participating. From past experience I agree, plan a theme and pre-schedule posts!

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  5. "... that Morgan Freeman should narrate it"—LOVE that, Pam! You've redefined my definition of awesome :D Yes, early planning is the key... I'm fairly sure of it, although—ahem—I've never actually put it to the test, haha. I'm one of those procrastinators you mention above... But this year will be different. I'll start drafting posts soon. Very soon ;)

    Looking forward to April!
    Guilie @ Quiet Laughter

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    1. I'll have Morgan Freeman on standby...

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  6. I am glad the holidays are over. I'm ready for things to calm back down.

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    1. Whoa. Totally like The Hunger Games!

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  8. The holidays just flew by and I'm not in full-on mode yet. Thanks for the pep talk! Hopefully all my A-Z posts will be completed ahead of time, for a change.

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  9. Looking forward to April! Not sure what my theme is this year. But I'll think of something! Maybe sites around my county since I became county historian in June last year.

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  10. Haha, last year I found out about the challenge on April 1, from Ellen at Cynical Sailor, and joined in, admittedly one day late for most of the challenge, but writing every post on the fly. THEN I learned that the rest of you all started planning in January! So almost as soon as I finished last year's, I started actually planning out this year's theme and sketched several of the posts. *Really* looking forward to this year's challenge! -- Jaye from Life Afloat Archives

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  11. At the end of last year's challenge, mentally I wasn't ready to take on thinking about doing the challenge again and then DH got laid off which put my brain in a funk, but for the first time in many months I feel renewed. I'm ready to take on the April blogging challenge and I know my theme already. Now to work on my future posts and wait for the sign up to go live. My game is on! :D

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    1. Glad you're feeling up to it, Cathy! Looking forward to your posts. ☺

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  12. April is 3 months away! ALREADY!
    I've been dragging my heels...need to start my AtoZ prep!

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  13. I'm trying to shake off the exhaustion of the holidays and get back to blogging mode!

    Great reminder to prep in advance, Pam!

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  14. Hi Pam. Welcome to 2016, may blessings flow to you this year.
    Last year I did not participate with blog posts but did spent a lot of time reading other people's posts. It motivated me for a while but when the bottom fell out of my rusty tin can things sort of dried up. I did tell Lee that I would take part again this year so am preparing for that, Africa will more than likely be my theme again. Having a theme is definitely the route to go, it gives continuity to your challenge posts making it easier for readers to read over the next couple of years and scheduling your publication dates ahead of time is essential, I'm doing that again this time.
    Pleas don't eat the elephants, they really don't like it when someone does that. :)
    Blessings and love from South Africa, Geoff.

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  15. For the first time in ages I think I might have to skip the A to Z this year. It will be sad to miss it, but maybe it'll give me more time to visit other blogs instead!

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  16. Just prepared my topics, so I can start working on the posts! \o/

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  17. I'm new to this, but it sounds fun! How do I sign up?

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  18. Thanks for your motivating post; I would definitely would like to participate; like you suggested, I need to start scheduling post.. to make it till the end... thanks again:)

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  19. I love this. Last year, life took over in February, and I scrambled all through April to finish. Lesson learned; I've been working on this years posts, little by little, since last May. By the end of this month, Iplan to be ready to write those rough drafts. By the end of next month, I'll be polishing, and in March, I'll be adding my links and trimmings.

    You can hold me to that! =)

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