2023 Review and 2024 Goals

Every year, I publicly review last year’s goals and how I did with them, and I announce my goals for the new year. I don’t make resolutions because they tend to be cliché and easily forgotten. I make goals that I can measure and show progress toward. Being a Capricorn and type A, I need goals to keep me motivated and always moving forward. These are the big ones that I want accountability for over the course of the year.

2023 Goals – How I did

• Visit one new place.
• I visited Canton for STM Monster Fest and enjoyed my weekend so much that I’m going back this year – not so much because of Canton (although the NFL Hall of Fame was cool!), but because Monster Fest was a blast, and I made several new friends there and finally met some of my favorite podcasters and film makers in person. I can’t wait to see them again!

• Make more money to pay down debt.
  
• My annual raise at work helped, and I paid off the HVAC system that I had to buy in 2020 nine months early!

• Attend at least one paracon (and maybe a writers’ conference, too)
• I attended STM Monster Fest, and I’m going back this year!
• I didn’t get to a writers’ conference because I ran out of time off and money (because paying off debt was a bigger priority).
  
  
• Continue to improve The P.E.E.P. Podcast and grow its audience.
• This one is ongoing because it’s never really done. My niche podcast is growing slowly, and that’s okay. I had to take a couple of breaks in 2023 (for health and travel), and if my audience was huge, I might not have felt like I could do that. Timing is everything.
  
  
• Complete and publish the myth/fantasy novel that I started writing over a decade ago.
• I’ve made progress, but it’s not anywhere near complete. With only half the story told, it’s already longer than any other novel I’ve written. I joined Ream in November, and I’m using it to hold myself to a writing schedule because if someone is willing to pay to read it as I write, then I’d better keep writing!
  
  
• Grow my healing practice.
• Technically, it grew, but not the way I envisioned it. Over the course of 2023, I realized my energy was better put into the podcast and writing because they are more scalable. Great is the Spirit still exists, and I’m happy to take on clients, but I’m not actively advertising it.
  
  
• Expand Triangle Energy Healers
• I have several awesome healers listed on the page, and that’s as far as I’ve gotten.
  
  

The biggest lesson I learned in 2023: When I try to do too many things at once, no one thing makes the big impact I want it to. While that’s probably common sense, it seems to be one of those things I keep having to learn for myself repeatedly.

2024 Goals

• Visit one new place.
• I’m not sure where it will be, but this is an annual goal, and I always make it happen. Travel expands the mind and spurs the imagination.

• Make more money to pay down debt.
• This is my other annual goal, and while I know home ownership is full of surprises, I’m trying to be more prepared for them with each passing year. Most of my current debt is from home/yard improvements and student loans, so it’s the kind of debt that most of my generation deals with and all of us are tired of. But I took it on, and I’ll pay it off.

• Complete “Daughter of the Mystic Moon.”
• The beginning of the fantasy novel I found in journals from over a decade ago is my current work-in-progress, and I’m finally actually writing new chapters after spending last year transcribing it from journals to Word. I like the story, and I can see it becoming another series.
• Once I finish it and hire an editor, my next project will be the third Rayna Smith novel, especially since people are asking for it! I also have an idea from several years ago for a sci-fi/parallel universe novel and one from this year for a superhero story. I have many ideas and not enough time to write!

• Attend at least one writer’s conference (virtually or in person) to help hone my craft and business sense and to make connections with other authors.
• I didn’t get to do this last year, but I’m aware of one local workshop/conference and a couple that are hybrid or virtual that I’ll try to attend this year, assuming they are affordable.

• Say “yes” to exciting opportunities to get my name out there without compromising my mental health or finances.
• The best marketing for podcasts, books, and energy healing is word of mouth. (If you like mine, please tell people about them.) The second best is being in public. My library talks are a way to reach locals who might not otherwise hear of me, and this year, I’m seeing additional possibilities like those outside of Wake County to add to my calendar. I won’t say yes to everything because that’s a surefire way for me to burn out, but I will say yes to the ones that my intuition tells me will be good for me.

• Practice Swedish Death Cleaning, make a will, and create a Death Binder.
• It seems morbid, but we’re all going to die. Why not make things easier for our loved ones when we do? My job as a content writer means I learn about many aspects of life and death that I may not have otherwise considered. This year, I’ll put some of them into practice to show my family I love them, even if the results aren’t needed for many years down the line.

Those are my goals, and I’m excited to see how 2024 plays out for them. What are yours? Feel free to share them with me on Facebook or Twitter.