Hey there friends. We have reached July, which means we are halfway through 2019, which means it’s time for another check-in on my 2019 goals. I set some pretty big goals for myself in 2019, and while I’ve had a few setbacks, I feel like I’m doing well, all things considered, and I’m confident I will achieve all these goals by the end of 2019. I will certainly start making more progress once I get past the bar at the end of this month.
- Don’t freak out.
Okay, so a few weeks ago, I had a minor mid bar-prep meltdown. It was late, I was tired, I was pretty sure I was going to fail the bar and never finish revising my book and be really, really bad at being an adult come September, but this was like a two hour minute in which our fire alarm ran out of batteries and would not stop beeping. I pulled myself together the next morning, and I have since learned not to take practice test scores seriously if I take the practice test after 6:00 PM.
But seriously, I think I’ve been managing all this pretty well. I’m studying for the bar, which is nine or ten hours a day, seven days a week. I’m packing up all my stuff to move out of my apartment at the end of July, and I’m getting ready to move down to Virginia at the end of August. I’m also revising my novel, one baby step at a time. And I’m managing to feed myself reasonably and get a reasonable amount of sleep. A lot has been going on, and I think I’ve been handling it really well.
Oh, and since my last check-in, my stress levels have been helped significantly by the fact that I got a job! I was accepted into the attorney honors program at the Federal Communications Commission, and I’ll be starting in the satellite division (as in satellites in space) in September. This is exactly where I wanted to be, and I am so excited and so relieved.
- Get in shape.
I’m pretty sure I’m cursed on this one. Every time I start going to the gym regularly, something happens to bring me to a grinding halt. I got very, very sick three times over the course of spring semester, and then after investing in a summer gym membership and managing to go almost every day for most of June, I tripped down the stairs and sprained my ankle pretty badly. Like I thought it was broken and went to urgent care kind of badly. I swear studying for the bar has diverted important brain function like balance and coordination away from my feet. It’s been a week, and I’m still barely able to walk, so I’m not going to the gym any time soon, much to my chagrin. See what I mean? I’m cursed.
We are still only halfway through 2019 though, and starting in August, I won’t have the bar to worry about. My new apartment in Virginia also has a gym and an indoor pool in the abuilding, so I’m not giving up yet.
- Read 100 books.
As of the end of June, I’ve read fifty-five books. So I’m right on track with this one.
- Finish the next draft for three projects:
As I said, I’m plugging away at revisions to my middle grade fantasy adventure novel with my agent. I’m also in the middle of writing the climax for my middle grade sci fi novel (admittedly I’ve been in the middle of the climax since March), so I almost have a first draft of that project. So while I haven’t finished a single project yet, I expect to start making a lot of progress on this once the bar is over.
- Blog more.
I’ve already been doing a lot of blogging. I’m really enjoying writing book reviews for all of you, but I’ve been missing talking about other things with you all, like my life and writing. So I’ve been making plans for new things to talk about come August, because nothing new is happening until August. If you have any ideas for things you’d like to see me talk about, do let me know.
And that’s where I’m at for my 2019 goals. I hope you’ve all been making as much progress on your goals so far.
I’ll be back soon with the rest of the book reviews for what I read in June, and in the meantime, I’m off to study study study.