Baby New Year is about to make his appearance again as we say goodbye to 2018 and ring in 2019. Every year around this time, as I’m scrambling to buy Christmas gifts (seriously, why do I always wait until the last flipping minute?) I’m also thinking, planning, and gearing up for new goals, new dreams, and new experiences.
Goodbye 2018
2018 saw so many of my big writing goals come true – I started a newsletter/mailing list (psst…if you haven’t signed up yet, you get a FREE short story anthology eBook and awesome notes from me twice a month – sign up here ) and I self-published my debut novel, The Art of Lying (available from Amazon), in April! I started working on my 2nd novel and started outlining my 3rd novel. I took classes, started working with my writing coach, and wrote more words than I have in the past two or three years combined!
2018 also saw us taking a non-Disney vacation and having a great time – we went to Great Wolf Lodge and did all the big water slides and enjoyed the lazy river! We spent time with family, we hung out with friends, and my kid started second grade (how is that possible?!?!). This past year I also quit working for the VA company I was working for and went out on my own – and immediately got two kick ass clients (swoon!). It’s been a pretty good year, and next year looks to be just as amazing!
I always choose three words to help guide my year – this year it was Courage as my main word and Magic and Open as my support words. I definitely called upon my inner courage to achieve my goals and to quit the VA company and have faith in myself to go out on my own. I started reading and studying and practicing witchcraft and using magic to manifest my dreams and I was open to ideas, people, and things that came into my life – seemingly from nowhere – to help guide me toward my big goals. So this year, I sat and I thought and I journaled and I came up with Joy as my main word and Sacred and Balance as my support words.
Joy
The past few years have been filled with grief and sadness and I want to enjoy the little moments in every day, I want to write with joy every day, and I want to enjoy my time on Earth for as long as I’m gifted. I want to enjoy hobbies, friends and family, and my day job. I want to feel lighter, happier, and be more pleasant to be around.
Sacred
I want to treat my body and my apartment and the Earth as sacred places. I want to treat myself with kindness, find movement that’s fun and helps me feel like my best self. I want to clean up and organize our apartment so I can have friends over and know where things are – not be so frazzled. And I want to continue finding ways to treat our home planet with love and understanding and that includes the people that inhabit it as well.
Balance
I want to have time for everything, including myself, every week. My son, my husband, my parents, my family, my friends, my hobbies, my writing, my day job, etc and so on and so forth. We all wear so many hats and I want each hat to get its time during the day, week, or month. I want to feel whole and centered throughout the day knowing that each thing will get its time.
Hello 2019
And with my words come my big goals…and this year I decided to be a little loose with things. I want to have certain areas of the apartment “finished” by mid-year. I want to have Etta (book #2) done and up on Amazon by the Fall. I want to have started Circus (book #3) by end of year – meaning, first draft done and to my editor and possibly starting the edits by this time next year so we can self-publish in early 2020. I want to have a rotating list of fun movements that I can do every day depending on energy level and weather.
I want to have a rotating list of activities that bring me joy that I can do at least once a day. I also want to learn to play my guitar so I can actually play one song by this time next year. I want to attend a real life NYC planner event and make some planner girl friends. I want to be consistent with Instagram (I have a whole plan for how to do this – but I don’t want to bore you – just know I want to post every week day, do some stories and engage with other writers and YA readers online).
I also want to take another vacation this year – most likely over the summer – with my husband and son. We just need to see if we can swing Disney or if we need to branch out and try something else. I have a ton of dreams, plans, and mini goals to help me with these steps – but I’m not being super rigid. I mean, this past year I had to throw out 78K words of a first draft because my story idea completely changed and I need to make sure that I have space for those kinds of things, because life happens.
Now, it’s your time — do you choose a word for the year? Do you big goals for the new year? Or do you do 90 Day or Quarterly goals? Do you have a vacation or ideas already in the words for 2019? I want to hear from you, so share in the comments below. And have a safe and happy Christmas and New Year’s Eve!!!
I think this may be the first year in a very long time that I haven’t picked a word. In a strange way, though, I feel like that, in itself, is representative of the word I would have picked. Does that make sense? Ha! The silence and the vacancy of a word is the word. I have an entire year of new beginnings ahead of me and I’m enjoying going in without any pretenses so that I can just observe and be present. It’s definitely not the way I typically operate, but it feels right for 2019.
I love that! Yes, it totally makes sense and you have to do what works for you in this time of your life. Having a word that will propel me forward and keep me from spinning out of control – and forgetting to have FUN – is what’s needed, but not having a word is exactly what you need RIGHT NOW! As long as you feel good going forward, I think that’s what is most important.