A few people asked if I'd made any resolutions this year. At that point, I hadn't. I hate New Years' Resolutions because I never stick to them. I was cleaning up my hard drive a few weeks ago and I found a "Things To Do In 2005" list I made. You know how many of the things on the list I actually did? Not one. I couldn't believe it! So why bother for 2006, I thought?
But the the question kept nagging at me. Just what do I want to accomplish in 2006? What do I really hope to get done? So I put some thought in to it. Honestly, I think I'm in a good place in both my personal and professional lives. That doesn't mean I can't improve upon things though. So rather than present a list of soon-to-be-broken promises, here are some of the real goals I want to work on achieving this year...
Focus - I need to focus on what I really want to be working on, where my time and energy will be best spent. There's so much I want to do in the comic industry; I have so many ideas and there are so many artists and publishers I want to work with. But I have to slow down and prioritize. I cannot over-extend myself. I always have trouble in this regard; I take on too much and I burn out. At this point, as far as my writing is concerned, I think I'm doing well for myself. I have my three creator-owned books, Drain, Shiki and Twins, which are moving along. I have a few projects in development at Marvel as well. And I think I have to be honest and tell myself that that's enough for now. I have some open offers from a few other publishers, and I would love to work with these folks as they're my friends, but I have to make sure I can handle the work I have before commiting to anything new. I need make sure that I'm devoting my best efforts to the projects at hand rather than spreading myself too thin. The same goes for my consulting. I have been asked by no less than four companies to join them as a consultant. And again, while I would like to help them out, my creative endeavors mean more to me at the moment than anything else. It will suck having to say "no", especially as these are people I admire and respect, but I would be doing them a disservice by accepting a job I could not devote myself to 100%.
Motivation - I'm one of the world's worst procrastinators. I don't know why that is though. I love to write and enjoy the time I spend at the keyboard and in my own head working on story. But sitting down and getting started is something always have problems with. So it's time to buckle down and set a firm schedule for myself to get things done. I guess this goes hand-in-hand with my goal of focusing on the work at hand.
Honesty - I need to be more honest to myself and to others. And I don't meant this in the sense of telling lies. I mean I have to be more open with my emotions. I keep a lot bottled up inside me, hidings opinions and feelings, not wanting to hurt people or fearing people will get pissed at me for opening my mouth. But sometimes it's better to just come out and be politely honest, to say what I really feel. I think this will help me in better dealing with people in business and in my perosnal life. It will also serve to relieve some of the pressure/guilt I often feel for not speaking up when I had the chance.
Tattoo - And this is my dumb one. I want to get a tattoo finally this year. I've always wanted one but never knew what to get. But now that I'm working with a lot of cool artists on a number of fantastic projects, I know I can have something amazing designed that I will be proud to have permanently inked on my body. In my mind, it will also help me remember these other goals I mentioned above as it will serve as a visual reminder every time I see it.
So that's my list of objectives for the coming year. More more about personal improvement than anything else. I'll keep you posted on how it's going...
