Interlude: Goals, Energy, and Promotion

Happy New Year!

Did you make a New Year's resolution?

I stopped making them years ago. The only resolution I've ever kept was to quit smoking. (Yup, you read that right. I had a rebellious streak in my teenage years.)

Over the past couple of years, I've taken a different approach. Instead of creating a resolution, I choose a word to set my intentions for the year.

This year, my word is ENERGY.

Where we direct our energy reflects our priorities. This year, my intention is to better focus my energy on my list of top priorities. And YOU are on that list.

I've got some exciting things in the works for you this year, and I can't wait to share them with you. Stay tuned.

Now onto the first round-up of 2024...

💌 Round-up

👓 Reading

Presence and consequences of positive words in scientific abstracts​
“…this paper shows that in recent decades, scientific abstracts have not only become longer descriptions of research, but have also increasingly used positive language in describing their study results, thereby adopting a more promotional function….By triggering a low-threshold, positive affect through an excessive use of terms with positive connotations this trend can systematically impact the judgments of the respective abstracts in a way that is counterproductive to rigorous scientific practices.”

​How to get your writing found: Why medical writers and academics need to use search engine optimisation​
Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the process of optimising your writing so that it can be found easily on the internet. There are five key steps that you can take to increase the discoverability of your work, which will be discussed below. These are:

• Choose your keywords carefully;

• Optimise your title;

• Optimise your abstract;

• Use your keywords throughout your article; and

• Build links to your work.”

🎧 Listening

​How to Set & Achieve Goals: 2 Surprising Science-Backed Steps You Must Follow - The Mel Robbins Podcast​
In this episode, Mel Robbins shares five mistakes that many of us make when setting goals. She also shares hacks to help you set achievable goals, including the two parts of a goal you need to factor in to ensure you accomplish that goal.

💭 Thoughts

Passive voice is not the enemy in scientific and medical writing.

Overuse of passive voice is the enemy.

📝 Experiment

Take a few minutes to think about a word to help you set your intentions for this year. Write that word on a sticky note and put it somewhere you will see it every day.

Thank you so much for reading.

Warmly,

Crystal