A New Year

Welcome to my annual post about New Year’s Resolutions. I cannot guarantee that I will give you a formula for developing and keeping resolutions, but I will give you some perspective from someone who has set numerous resolutions through the years and kept . . . well, not a lot of them. Buckle up, here we go into 2025:

1. Play less Spider Solitaire and use that time to write more. I read about a very popular author who uninstalled Solitaire on every writing device he owned. Maybe I will do that, seeing that recognizing you have a problem is the first step to recovery. But can I really pass up Bonus XP after winning every fourth game? Time will tell.
2. Wake up early each day to write. Big time confession: I am so NOT a morning person. As a student, I avoided 8 AM classes with everything in me and struggled with those that started at 9:25. One semester, my earliest class was 12:40, and I was late almost every day. As a teacher, I have followed the pattern of avoiding the earliest classes. I’m not sure if anyone would want to read something I created in the morning hours, but I can try.
3. Submit something each month. Again, I know this a key to success and requires follow-through. If I can set aside Spider Solitaire and avoid procrastination by doing laundry and cleaning something that has already been neglected, maybe I can succeed at this one.
4. Read more to get inspired. I used to be a voracious reader—couldn’t get enough. With each passing year, I don’t seem to be getting younger (what a shock), and my adult attention span seems to be getting smaller. I sit down to read a much-anticipated book only to get distracted by Spider Solitaire, laundry, and wondering what the number one song was on my birthday in 1987. This year might be the year to tackle my Mount Everest-size to-be-read pile.

Now, it’s your turn: what’s your New Year’s Resolution? Or, should I say, goal for 2025? What steps can you take to achieve that goal?

Notice I didn’t talk about basic resolutions like losing weight. I’m still working my way through the Christmas chocolate, so we shall worry about that another day.

Carlton Hughes, represented by Cyle Young of Hartline Literary, wears many hats. By day, he is a professor of communication. On Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings, he serves as a children’s pastor. In his “spare time,” he is a freelance writer. Carlton is an empty-nesting dad and devoted husband who likes long walks on the beach, old sitcoms, and chocolate—all the chocolate. His work has been featured in Chicken Soup for the Soul: The Dating Game, The Wonders of Nature, Let the Earth Rejoice, Just Breathe, So God Made a Dog, and Everyday Grace for Men. His latest book is Adventures in Fatherhood, co-authored with Holland Webb.