Making a Plan for 2017

I first started researching my family tree in the basement of my home which was located in a very remote place in Northern Alberta. I was a stay-at-home mom with two young children and was a tad lonely. I found I could research in small quick moments during the day and sometimes in the evening once the kids were tucked in. I was looking for some way to channel my love of family history and took a class offered by the local genealogy society, and I haven’t been able to stop since. I have to say it was very slap-dash and as I have learned not the most efficient way to approach this hobby.

What I didn’t know when I started researching my family tree –

• how this hobby would branch out and become a full-time interest that would change the scope of family holidays, my free time, and my budget!
• how important it is sourcing my information is! 
• how much I wish would have focused more on writing in my English classes…
• how much information would come on-line
• that paper-less was an option
• how much genealogy travel I would want to do

Now that I have gathered a fair bit of material, my goal with my research is to share it. And I don’t mean make my family tree public, what I am envisioning is a family history book with photographs, anecdotal stories, and some social history for context when I really don’t know all that much about an ancestor. With this in mind, I am setting my goal for 2017 to produce a family history book. How will I make this goal my focus for the year?

• when selecting courses/webinars I will make choices with my goal in mind
• the same can be said when selecting what sessions I will attend at conferences
• join Facebook groups with writing as the focus
• set specific writing goals – to sit down to work on my project three times a week

This doesn’t mean I will stop researching but the thought of having a finished product to show the next time my family gathers is a vision that I cannot get out of my head!

Setting a goal with my genealogy research was not on my radar when I first started. Now I can see how it will help me to stay the course and have a focused plan for the year.

Have you set your 2017 genealogy goals? I would love to hear what you have planned.