My overachieving self has decided that this is going to be the year of keeping up past professional accomplishments, while also devoting myself fully to having an amazing personal life. This is, after all, the year I get married and I’ve decided I love the guy enough to not drive him completely crazy with my workaholism. (His obsession with work we’ll leave up to him to figure out.)

Unlike past years, I’m not as much focused on getting new clients in 2010. I’ve got regular clients I’m mostly happy with and my priority this year is to make those relationships last longer and become happier for both sides. I feel I’m at a stage now where instead of seeing where I fit in, I’ve carved a place for myself and now I need to figure out how to excel at that place I’m in.

I continue my interest in the lives and livelihoods of wastepickers (next piece to be out this week), and I’m quite encouraged by the response to my pieces over the last few months. I’m hoping to place at least six more on the topic over the next several months and am applying for funding for research on this topic. That is going to be one of my big projects this year.

The second big project I’m focusing on is one I’m still keeping under wraps because I’m still in the pitching stage. It’s very different to the wastepickers story and will require (maybe months of) research before I can take it anywhere. One editor has already shown interest in a 10,000+ word story (or a series of them), but I’m still shopping it around to try and get the best deal so that I can spend ample time on it without worrying about the money.

In 2009, I was able to write a total of 46 pieces (a little less than one a week), but most of these were actually written in the latter half of the year, and at least three were 3,500+ words. I’m hoping to write (and publish) 52 this year at a rate of one a week.

So those are the practical goals. But there are some fantasies, too, and I’ve heard that if you just let out your wackiest, craziest goals into the world and set them free, the Universe brings them to fruition for you. So here are mine.

1. I’d like to write and sell a book proposal for a book idea I love and believe in.
2. I’d like to get enough funding for the project I mentioned above, a story that needs telling, so that I’m able to do it justice and tell it accurately.
3. I’d like to place this project as a series of articles in a major newspaper or a long narrative piece in a major magazine.

So those are my goals for this year (not ambitious at all, I know). What are yours?