Happy New Year! I don’t feel very different than I did yesterday, but the good news is that this year, both days I felt pretty good. The truth is that 2007 was a great year for me both personally and professionally. So I was in no hurry to bid it farewell, but I’m looking forward to an even better 2008.

Nataly’s post the other day about things she’s done and learned this year got me rethinking the whole New Year’s resolutions thing. As a rule, I don’t do resolutions. I think it’s sort of lame and arbitrary to say “Okay, now I’m going to do those things I should’ve been doing all along.” But in looking back over my posts here at Work It, Mom since I began this blog last May, I realize that I, too, have learned many an important lesson in the past year; many of which I have been waiting for the new year to implement changes.

So, um, hi. I’m Mir. I’m about to be lame and arbitrary!

Here are my professional resolutions for 2008, as I continue to expand my career as a freelance writer:

• I will pay my estimated taxes quarterly. (Ha! Learned my lesson on that one, I did.)
• I will put said estimated tax money into a dedicated account for it between payments.
• I will slightly overpay my taxes; I know myself, and while I know that I could pay exactly the right amount or get very close to it and just owe a slightly larger payment for the 4th quarter, I also know that that will stress me out. So yes, I would rather give the government an interest-free loan and reduce my stress load than have to worry about it.
• I will network more. Most of my clients came to me through savvy networking, once upon a time, and as I got busy this past year I stopped making that a priority. That was a mistake, and something I plan to rectify this coming year.
• I will not make myself sick over contract negotiations. This year I successfully renegotiated my pay on a contract, but I may have given myself a small ulcer in the process. You know what? It’s part of being a freelancer, and I need to toughen up.
• I will recognize that I am (finally) making a true living at this and behave accordingly. That means I can let go of clients who drive me insane (there will always be more work), and that I will make a concerted effort to keep my workload manageable. Pinky swear.

Here’s to a successful—and more importantly, happy—2008 to us all!

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