“I’m kind of over getting told to throw my hands up in the air,
So there.”
–Lorde, “Team”

Total Miles in 2013: 1731.5
Total Pounds Lost in 2013: 36

So, that’s the summation of the great 1,500 Mile Project of 2013–two numbers. I mean, as far as numbers go, they seem all right. Pretty good, perhaps. I feel generally positive and warm and fuzzy about them.

As I promised myself, I’m resetting my personal odometer (if the little notebook where I keep track of mileage can be considered an odometer) to zero and starting over. And since it’s New Year’s, why not add a couple of things to the list? Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do January 1?

Here’s the thing. I’m absolutely terrible at keeping resolutions–you won’t find any of those self-unfulfilling prophecies here. Instead, I’m resetting my priorities, along with the mile count. Sure, it’s probably just semantics, but it sounds more permanent, right? Most resolutions get broken before we even make them, but adjusting your priorities–now that’s a life-changer.

Starting now, my priorities, in order of personal importance, are:

Write, write, write-y, write, write.
The past year has been pretty much a dud on that front. No novel, barely a blog, and a failed anthology with two of my writer friends. This coming year will be the first year (of many, I hope) that I write something every day. It’s going to happen. The novel will get finished, and–STOP ROLLING YOUR EYES YOU GUYS I REALLY REALLY MEAN IT THIS TIME. Didn’t you notice how it’s listed first?

As I was saying, more writing will be happening. The novel. More blogs. More reading. More productivity. More commitment to figuring out how to be a better writer. Fewer distractions. *cough* Like trying to write while the TV is on *cough*

Find a happy place.
Do you ever feel like you’re slowly going crazy, like maybe you’ve been going crazy for a while but have been too sidetracked to notice, and then somebody shoves you over a mental cliff? No? Oh, uh, yeah, so…

The formula sounds deceptively simple: cut out the bad, do what makes you happy. I have found that the process is never quite that easy, though. It’s definitely the type of quest that requires more energy than I’ve devoted as of late. Does anybody have a map of generally joyous regions that I could borrow?

The 2014 Mile Project.
I’ve done a lot–well, a few minutes worth of–thinking about what the mile goal should be for the next 365 days. Then it hit me: 2,014, which translates to about forty miles a week. I had originally been thinking about 2,500 total (about fifty a week), but I’m hoping that a slightly smaller number will mean more daily writing time (remember how that was first on the list?) and more time to explore alternative, less distance-related workouts.

Of course, I’m certainly not opposed to doing more miles. Two thousand and fourteen is really just a bare minimum.

So, that’s where I am today. Back at mile zero, at least two thousand and fourteen more to go, and a lot of writing to do in a happy location yet to be discovered.

I SHALL CONQUER YOU, 2014 (and beyond).