New Year, New Goals, New You

One of my favorite things about a new year is that blank-slate feeling. Everything ahead is new, untold, unexpected. Anything is possible. 
I've never really been one for making New Year resolutions. At least not simply for the sake of having a resolution just because everyone else does. We all know that adage "If you want to hear God laugh, tell him your plans." I guess I've always had the attitude of whatever comes, comes, but lately I've been thinking more about goals. Obviously, we can't see the future, and we don't know what lies ahead. We can only plan so much and so far. Yet, I do think it's important to have a goal or two: short-term and long-term. It gives us direction, let's us know what we're aiming for. It adds to our sense of purpose and direction.
 Last year, I started working on a goal that has lived within me for years: the goal of writing a novel. Before I could even write, I would scribble squiggle-lines onto stacks of paper, staple the sheets together, and then proudly march the finished product around the house as my "book." At the end of last year, Mark and I decided that I should take a few months to actually work toward making this goal a reality. Now, I'm 12 chapters in and, although the process has been filled with ups and downs, I don't know that I've ever felt more fulfilled as an individual. Or more grateful to my husband who has been nothing but supportive as I work and write. 
As the new year began, I debated whether to actually post any resolutions for 2016. But the reality exists that we need to have goals toward which we steer ourselves. After all, we will never accomplish something if we never aim for it, if we never even try. As Erin of the blog Reading My Tea Leaves stated, "You'll never accomplish what you don't attempt. Literally. And thinking of something to attempt, well, that's the first step." 
Rather than present a long, meandering list of goals (which frankly would bore both you and me), I plan to share a short series of posts regarding the main goals I have forged for the new year. Each goal somehow relates to the main topics of this little space: living creatively and being more intentional with my life and time. The upcoming goals will fall under three categories: personal goals, financial goals, and creative goals. 
Along the way, I'll share my progress, whether its forward or backward. I hope that my little efforts will somehow inspire you to lay out and aim for your own personal goals as well, come what may!
Thanks for following along thus far. And Happy New Year!