2022 Recap and 2023 Look Ahead

Another year is here. January is always a little overwhelming as I try to settle back into routines and make goals for the year ahead. But I always enjoy doing these posts, even if no one reads them. They're a great way to look back at my year and see how things changed. So let's get started.

2022

My Life

2022 was different than I expected. I quit my retail job in January and started my own copywriting business, which brought a whole new set of challenges. But honestly, my mental health has been so much better since I did.

One of my biggest challenges last year was loneliness. I've struggled to make friends for years and I feel like that really came to light this year. I'm working on this, but it's hard.

Through everything, God was there. He's been my rock and my comfort. He opened my eyes to areas that need work. He's been faithful even though I doubted. He is good.

Goals

Personal

Word of the Year: Evolve

In 2022, I wanted to make changes in my life. I did that, to an extent. But as the year progressed, this word no longer felt like it fit.

•Grow in my walk with the Lord ✔

The Christian life isn't a straight line. But I learned some important lessons in 2022, so I'd say I made progress. Through God's gracious work in my life, of course.

•Be intentional with my time ✔

There's always room to improve, but I feel like I did pretty well with this. Being self-employed probably helps. But I made progress on using my phone less and prioritizing tasks more.

•Upgrade my life ✖

This goes with the word of the year. The goal didn't match what my year turned out to be, so I dropped this one. But that's okay.

•Improve as an artist ✔

Obviously, this isn't something that's easy to achieve. I could have practiced more and worked harder. But I'm pretty proud of some of my work from 2022, so I'll count it as a win.

Writing

•Work on editing New Magic, Lost Magic, and An Octopus Ate My Homework ✔

I was able to work on all three of these this year. New Magic is now off to agents, Lost Magic is on a new draft, and An Octopus Ate My Homework is undergoing edits.

•Actively work on finding an agent ✔

I am so proud of myself for finally taking the plunge and doing this. The time felt right and I'm giving it my best shot as we speak. And we'll see where the Lord leads from here.

•Write one new novel ✖

I had planned to do this by participating in NaNoWriMo. But after giving up NaNoWriMo and the way my editing lined up, I didn't have time for a new novel this year.

Reading

•Read 80 books ✔

My grand total for the year was...85! I was able to crush my goal this year by both lowering the amount of books to read and spending more deliberate time reading, especially on the weekends.

•Read all unread books ✖

Honestly, I didn't think I'd compete this. It was more of an incentive for me to read more owned books. I did get through seven on my list, plus others I bought throughout the year.

•Read 2-3 Christian books ✔

I read three and they were all wonderful. They each helped me in different ways and I hope to continue finding good Christian books to read in 2023.

•Reread 20 books ✖

I got through 12. Which I think is pretty good. Again, this was more of a motivating goal than an actually will accomplish goal.

•Buy 3-5 indie books ✔

I think I bought three? I didn't keep track, but I'm pretty sure I bought a few.

Blogging

•Get 25 newsletter subscribers ✖

I haven't done a good job promoting my newsletter or anything, so I didn't really get anymore subscribers. (P.S. You can sign up in the box in the sidebar!)

•Write one deep post a month ✔

I missed a few months, but for the most part, I accomplished this. I enjoyed sharing more of my thoughts and feelings, even if nobody cares.

2023

Personal

Word of the Year: Steadfast

When I was thinking of what word to chose for 2023, steadfast came to mind. I made good progress in a lot of areas last year and I want to continue that progress in 2023. I also want to work on being steadfast in my walk with the Lord.

•Practice emotional self-control

Something God has shown me recently is that I let my emotions rule me more than him. So this year I want to work on letting Him rule me rather than my emotions.

•Be intentional with my time

I want to continue working on this in 2023, so I'm making it a goal again. I want to continue cutting back on wasting time on my phone especially so I can spend more time on actually useful pursuits.

•Stretch my limits

I've lived in my comfort zone for a long time. That's not entirely bad, but there are areas I want to see change in, and that requires stretching myself in ways that make me uncomfortable.

Hobbies

•Spend one hour a week practicing art

This will probably take working up to, but as part of my being more intentional with time, I want to practice art more. Not making full pieces, but working on improving my skills.

•Go roller skating once a week

I took up roller skating in 2022 and I'm loving it. I'm not good, but I enjoy it and that's all that matters. But to help myself improve, I want to go to my local skate park once a week.

Writing

•Finish edits on An Octopus Ate My Homework and Lost Magic

I'd really like to get both of these books to a place where I'm happy with them. Especially as I continue querying agents.

•Grow my author platform

Now that I'm querying, I want to work on my author platform. Networking and platform building doesn't come naturally to me, but it's one of the areas I want to stretch myself.

•Do more non-novel creative writing

Specifically short stories and poetry. I haven't written poetry in years and I'd love to get back into it.

Reading

•Read 85 books

Since I hit 85 last year, I hope to again this year. And maybe even hit 90?

•Reread Redwall series

It's been so long since I read these books. So I decided to make it a goal to read all 22 this year. That's only two a month, which should be doable.

•Read 5 classics

I really slacked off on the classics last year, so I want to work on that this year. I have several on my shelf waiting to be read and I hope this is the year.

What are your 2023 goals? How did you do on last year's goals? Tell me in the comments!