Happy New Year’s Eve!
Let me start by thanking each and every one of you for reading and following my blog posts. It has been quite a year and I greatly appreciate the fact that you are on this adventure with me!
Children’s author Julie Hedlund challenged participants of her 12 Days of Christmas for Writers series to post SUCCESSES (rather than resolutions) on our blogs this year. She believes the way New Year’s resolutions are traditionally made come from a place of negativity – what DIDN’T get done or achieved in the previous year. Instead, she suggests we set goals for the New Year that BUILD on our achievements from the previous one. I decided to participate in this Anti-Resolution Revolution! Here is my list for 2021.
Successes
- Joined TeachWriteEdu – supportive group of teachers who are writers
- Joined Miriam Laundry’s Mastermind
- Learned about writing, editing, publishing and marketing a self published book
- Researched and hired a book illustrator
- Received first copies of Gertie Saves the Day
- With guidance, successfully uploaded my book to Amazon
- Success and fun day launching my book
- Achieved Best Seller Status on Amazon.com and Amazon CA
- Designed materials for my website
- Started my blog
- Signed my contract to work with Little Hippo Books
- Received my first royalty check
- 4 Books to be launched in 2022
Resolutions, Goals or Just One Word
For me this has been a very successful year, but I know it has not been that way for many writers. I appreciate the fact that I have this opportunity to reflect on my successes before setting my goals for the new year.
I am not much of a resolution girl. It all sounded good, but I was not able to implement or sustain the resolution. After reading One Word That Will Change Your Life by Jon Gordon. The possibility of one word guiding me through the year was intriguing. I wanted to know more.
I came across a blog post by Christine Kane. Can A Single Word Really Change Your Life? Christine decided to ditch her New Year’s Resolution and selected one word to guide her for the year. She demonstrated how that one word made a difference in her life. It is important to note that you do not simply choose a word and by magic your life changes, but rather let the energy of the word guide you. Most importantly, she took action based on her word. Action is the key ingredient. Christine guides you to find your word using her Discovery tool.
In 2020, my word was FEARLESS. That year I took the leap and started my journey toward getting my picture book published. In 2021, my word was EXPANSION. Not only did I self-publish my picture book, but I started a website and learned more about publishing and marketing. I haven’t picked my one word yet for 2022, but I have it narrowed down to three – Trust, Growth and Focus. I will share my one word tomorrow on social media.
If you would like to find your one word, I recommend using Christine’s Word of the Year Discovery Tool. You will find the link below.
I am working on some new ideas for the coming year. Stay tuned!
Happy New Year! May it be Happy and Healthy!
Karen