Getting Back on the Horse: Weekly Goals - December 14-20, 2025

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It's been a long while since I could set a goal and then not be guaranteed that it would be the one thing I would...for whatever number of reasons, fail to achieve. It's been almost as long that setting any kind of deadline would cripple me, instead of energize me like it used to do. It's been an equally long time since I wasn't sure I would fail no matter how much effort I put into something, no matter how 'right' I got it, no matter how well it worked for anyone else...and then tried to do it, anyway.

Years.

At least two. Twenty-four months. Or 730 days. And probably a couple of years before that.

We won't get into hours or minutes, but, whichever way you slice it, it's a very long time to live with the hope that the storm will pass, and to keep trying to move forward in spite of what Life throws, in spite of the doubts others have in you, and in spite of the absolute surety you feel that you *will* fail, that it will not matter how precisely right you get whatever it is you are doing, or how exactly you follow the advice you're given by those more successful, because something beyond your control will take the feet out from under you and you will fall...and there will be nothing you can do to stop it.

Except... Well, except nothing. All  you can do is get back up, and keep moving forward. You don't even need to dust yourself off. After all, you'll only get more dust, or mud, on you when you hit the ground, again. All I can think of is that scene in Riddick where the sniper is begging her target to 'just stay down.'

He didn't...and while he still fell, and the team still retrieved him, he figured it out, and the movie went on from there.

I am no Riddick, but I *might* have reached a point where I can face a deadline, again...and maybe feel the high of meeting the challenge ahead...maybe. I'm still not where I used to be, and it's possible I'll never get back to that, but maybe I can get to this:

Goals for the Week Ending December 20, 2025

1. Write 7 poems for Another 366 Days of Poetry (mixed genre, currently 32,180 words)

2. Write 7 pieces of flash for Another 366 Days of Flash Fiction (mixed genre, currently 40,209)

3. Submit 1 new piece of work to 1 market (written, 'just' needs submission)

4. Finish the novel, Dark God's Demise (2nd Ed.) (Dark Adv. Fantasy, approx. 4k-10k words to go, currently 120,863 words)

5. Publish the novel, Mack 'n' Me: Blaedergil's Host (3rd Ed.) to pre-release (SF, ready, 'just' needs upload)

6. Publish the short story, Nurse (2nd Ed.) to pre-release (horror, ready, 'just' needs upload)

7. Add 1,500 words to the novel, World Shift (1st Ed) (Portal Fantasy, currently currently 55,528 words)

8. Add 1,500 words to the novel, Confessions of a Runner for Ki-Zin (1st Ed) (SF, currently 7,543 words)

9. Record the next 40 16 game play videos (24/40 complete, 16 to go)

10. Edit, format, and schedule, the next 26 23 game play videos (3/26 complete, 23 to go) 

Stretch Goals: 

1. Complete the format of the novel, Mack 'n' Me: Arach (3rd Ed.) (terms and characters required, then pre-nuke, nuke, and base format phases needed)

2. Complete the reading edit of the novel, Mack 'n' Me: The Transporter's Favor (3rd. Ed) (14/38 chapters complete)

3.  Set up over-arc for first few MSQs and side quests as part of the background for MMO-based LitRPG series.

Aaaaand... Nope. Nope, that's it. It looks like a lot, and I don't know what this week will bring - and I'll be starting a day down, because I spent yesterday dealing with a 'down' phase, and sorting out what I needed to do, and when by.

Why not wait until the new year to do this? Because you're either going to change gears, or you're not. My approach is why delay the next step when it's the step you need to take in order to succeed? Why wait, once the decision's made?

Commit or...to quote another movie 'Do...or do not;' it's up to you. 

Wish me luck, this week. It's been a while, and in the meantime, I'll work at creating my own luck, by putting in the hours.

And take care out there, wherever and whenever in the world you might be. 

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