New Year, New Goals

With all due respect to Benjamin Franklin, sometimes you can find lost time… providing, of course that such time is in the future. And one of the best ways to avoid wasting time in the future is to set good goals today. It’s a brand-new year, or at least it was 29 days ago. So, let’s set some goals! Or perhaps it’s better to say that it’s time to officially announce the goals I already set for myself, since publicly sharing goals hacks your brain to provide extra motivation! Here are my Goals 2026, because lost time is never found again… until it is!

Goals 2026

1. Finish a first draft of Save All Side Characters
   • This is a project I began at the end of last year, good ole’ 2025. Basically, the Chosen One’s best friend realizes that many people will die while his friend is busy stopping the Dark Lord, unless he saves them.
   • It’s fun, and it’s an excuse (because we always need more writing excuses 😉 ) to both learn and practice the Story Genius method while finishing a 2nd novel, always a big milestone for writers. I’ve heard good things about the method, and after reading the book and a semi-successful attempt at implementing it with a previous project, I’d like to give it a go. I think it might help my character arcs to have a bit more punch.
2. Post Monthly Exclusives on Patreon
   • Ye, I have a Patreon now that is actually functional! I already added several of my best short stories, and my commitment is to keep adding at least 1 new item exclusive to Patreon each month. This year, that will take the form of scenes and perhaps behind-the-scenes notes on my current project.
3. Blog each month
   • Look! I’m already completing some of my Goals 2026(!)
     • I put the ! in parenthesis because the math nerd side of my brain refuses to let me make an accidental factorial, though the hyper-hamster part of my brain thinks almost exclusively in exclamation points while my sarcastic side thinks that it would be an excellent way to ensure that I can never fail to reach those goals. After all, 2.650419 × 10^5821 years should be plenty of time.
4. Send out Newsletter every 2 months
   • I’ve got a newsletter, and you can sign up for it here!

Lost time is never found again… until it is.

I confess, I do not own a time machine. At the end of the day, Benjamin Franklin is correct that lost time is never found again. If you waste time, you won’t ever get that time back. 100% efficiency in time management is neither possible nor desirable (ever hear of burnout?), but it’s always a good idea to avoid losing time. Since the future so often stems from the past and present, looking at where you have and do waste time can be an excellent way to avoid wasting time in the future.

Goals are a powerful way to focus your time and energy to avoid wasting time. That’s why I set my Goals 2026, and why when I’m on top of things, I try to set daily and weekly goals as well. But a goal without a plan is just wishful thinking, so I make my goals even more concrete by breaking them down into smaller pieces and setting due dates for the individual parts. I just finished that list yesterday, and I’m already checking things off.

You have to find the time to do anything worth doing in life. “Work will win when wishy-washy wishing won’t.” Just keep putting in the work! Lost time is never found again… until now. That’s why I challenge you to set your own Goals 2026.