Wednesday, January 15, 2025

Resolved

I've never been a fan of New Year's resolutions. They rarely seem to make it to February, especially those "New Year, New You" resolutions that you're going to completely change your diet, your exercise routine, your life. Nope. Intentions like that are how gyms keep the lights on.

What I like to do is make goals. Things to work toward, not on a specific time frame, and not black and white, do or die declarations. 

While I do have personal goals - one of them having to do with getting a grip on my health and my attitude toward doctors - what I want to talk about today are professional goals. 

Because I'm a professional. I'm not just a writer, I'm a business. And it's more than time to treat it that way. 

I stopped working full-time in 2013. Between occasional temping, Etsy, and craft shows, I made enough. I covered my bills, got most of what I wanted, and didn't feel stress about money. But I also live a pretty low-spend life, for the most part. It's just how I am, having been raised without a lot and knowing it was generally on me to support myself. Even now, having been married for 13 years, I still like knowing that I could support myself fully, and no matter what our job situations are, we share all household expenses equally, while having separate accounts.  

I've decided, for this year, that enough isn't enough. I work hard; I write good books; I joined a coaching program and have learned a lot about marketing and advertising. I made more this year on writing then I have in any of the last 10 years overall, which is wonderful. I'm at about 80% of my old law firm salary. But I can do better. 

This year's goal is to replace my old law firm salary, after expenses. That's a hard thing to say out loud. A lot of us were raised to not talk about money, or to be embarrassed or uncomfortable with asking for what we're worth. But how many men go through the world feeling that they don't deserve what they're paid? I'm not dumping on men - well, maybe a little - but oh, for the confidence of a mediocre white man.

Yes, making a lot of money would be lovely. We could go on nice vacations, or finally redo the kitchen. But I could also write a check to our local cat rescue without worrying about shorting myself or make a cash donation in lieu of volunteering, because sometimes it's better to buy back your time. 

When women make money, they aren't the only ones who benefit.

2 comments:

Carol in Denver said...

Loved your words: "...oh for the confidence of a mediocre white man." The last job I started, they offered me more than I had made at the prior job. I told them they didn't have to do that, but my new boss said he thought it was good to feel that we are making progress. He told me to give myself a 3% raise every year. I stayed at that job for 20 years, until Covid put the kibosh on it.

Anonymous said...

You can do this!