Every year around this time, I start thinking about what I want the next year to be like. I’m a big believer in visualization. Some people think that means I sit around with my crystals fantasizing about the future. The truth is that I just believe that the first step to making anything happen is to be able to see it clearly in my head.

Last year I had big plans for 2012.

Most of them fell through.

When I tell people that, they get sad for me. Or they make that “Awwww” sound. (By the way, I hate that sound. It sounds like pity to me.) What they don’t understand is that I’m not all that disappointed about it. You can’t win them all.

Sometimes You Don’t Get What You Expect

We can’t know the future. That’s hard to accept for people who love to plan as much as I do. Sometimes our plans fail. Sometimes it’s completely beyond our control.

In other words, shit happened.

I didn’t make as much money as I wanted. I didn’t do as many guest posts as I wanted. I didn’t get my clients to the percentage ratio as I wanted either. My savings is looking better but it’s not looking as good as I wanted. I felt short on every single metric. This is the first time that’s happened to me.

But on the other hand, I still had a good year. I made money–enough money to feed and clothe myself and still have margarita night with Hubs whenever we wanted. I also took on some new clients. I did some guest posts on sites that I would have never expected. I crushed my print goal. I had enough work that I was able to turn down some really shady work. I saved money to the point that I actually have a savings account again instead of a “surplus” in my checking account.

I don’t want to downplay that I had a good year just because I didn’t make all of my goals. I still want to celebrate what happened. I’m still grateful for those things. And yes, I still want more for myself.

What about 2013?

For 2013, I’m reassessing my goals. Some of them I’m still interested in reaching. I still want my client mix to be no more than 20 percent of my entire income. I still would like to bump my total income by about 15 percent.

On the other hand, I don’t care about how many print magazines I appear in next year. I would rather see an increase in income from digital publishers. I’m also still interested in networking in person but since I’m doing so much of it now, I want to be more selective about who I network with and how.

What about you guys? What goals did you make and what goals did you throw away this year?