Welcome to 2023!
It feels so strange to say (or write) that. I’m definitely still going to accidentally say 2022 for a while yet . . .
Do you get excited when the new year rolls around? Or is it difficult for you . . . or maybe just meh? After all, it’s just another flip of the calendar, really. Our lives aren’t suddenly filled with huge changes or developments as soon as the next year hits.
Still, I’m the type of person that does get excited for each new year. Not just because of the exciting events that are planned (this year in particular, in my case . . . ), but also because it feels like another fresh start. Technically every day, every moment, is a chance to start fresh and make needed changes, but the new year feels extra motivating to me.
Some years I’m better about making realistic goals, some years absolutely not. But even if I don’t reach the final goal, setting it in the first place motivates me to at least do something, whereas if I didn’t make the goal at all, I might not do anything.
Everyone has different personalities, and different methods they can use to be most productive, fulfilled, and joyful in their daily lives, and setting goals doesn’t work for everyone. And that’s okay! I know quite a few people that feel so much happier and relaxed, and still manage to do great things, without setting goals or making plans for themselves.
Personally, I need some kind of structure or else I forget things, get discouraged, or lose motivation, and now that I know that about myself, I try to set some flexible goals each new year to keep me on track for where I’d like to end up. That doesn’t mean they always happen, as I can never know exactly what God’s plans are, but they’re still helpful to me.
So seeing as today is the first day of 2023, I thought I’d take a few moments and share some of my biggest goals for this year. If you have any, and feel like sharing, I’d love to hear about yours as well!
Here are some of my biggest goals for 2023 . . .
Read Through The Bible
Technically, I’ve done this before, but not in one year. I’ve read the entire thing using a three-year reading plan a few years ago, and have read certain books countless times, but this year, I’d like to read through the entire Bible in one year!
I haven’t read the Bible as much as I should lately, and I’m really missing it and feeling convicted. Last year, I found a Bible in a thrift shop that breaks down the entire thing into 365 daily readings, moving through the Old Testament to the New Testament, and adding in Psalms and Proverbs almost daily. It intrigued me so I got it, and I think the structure will really help me. I read Day One today and I’m looking forward to continuing!
Get Married!
Just saying, I’m super excited for this one, haha. The date is set for April 1st (exactly three months/ninety days from now), and there’s a lot to come in the next few months!
Beforehand, there’s the rest of the planning and preparation, premarital counseling with our officiant, me packing up and moving most everything, and, I’m being told, a bridal shower. Then there’s all the fun of the actual wedding day and reception, followed by a weeklong honeymoon, finishing up settling in, and all the less fun legal stuff.
It still hasn’t hit me entirely as real yet, and I doubt it will until after we’re actually married and I’ve settled in. It’ll be such a huge change, but I’m really looking forward to spending the rest of my life with my best friend . . . cue the mushy warm feelings.
Move, Sort, and Settle In
This goes along with actually getting married. I’ve never lived on my own, so I don’t have an apartment worth of furniture to move or anything, but it will still be a decent job to sort, thin, pack up, organize, and move everything that I do own. But also fun!
In my fiancé’s apartment, where we’ll both live, there’s even a loft area with a fun (also scary) cute spiral staircase, and he’s been saving the space to put together a little office area for me once I’m there. So for a while after April, when I write, it will most likely be from a loft. The only tricky spot is trying to get any normal-sized furniture up there, haha.
Publish Cabin Girl (. . . finally . . . )
I’m just going to pretend this hasn’t been on the goals list for the past three years . . . Ideally, 2023 will be the year it actually happens! And right now Cabin Girl really is the closest it’s ever been to being published so I feel optimistic, as long as there’s not a major life curveball. God has His own timing, which is far better than mine, so I’m doing my best to continue working at it, but accept that it may not be when I expect.
Currently I need to finish the last edit, format both versions (ebook and paperback, which I’ll do with Atticus again), have the final paperback wrap cover made, and then do the technical publishing work of choosing keywords and categories, etc. There will also be a fun blog tour and giveaway when I do publish, so I’m excited for that!
Read 100 Books
I’ve talked about this a few times recently, but I completely failed my 2022 reading goal of 55 books (I read 27). That’s okay, because I needed to take some breaks, but I’d really like to get back into reading frequently. So I’m setting myself a lofty goal of 100 books, which includes both fiction and non-fiction.
My mindset, stress levels, and creativity all seem to be better when I read more, so I’m hoping the increased reading helps me stay sane in the next few months, haha. If you want to see the exact list of books I’m hoping to get to in 2023 (give or take a few, of course), you can check out this post!
Better My Health
This is the most vague of all my 2023 goals, just because I don’t know exactly what it’ll take to accomplish yet. I just know that I want to get healthier in any way I can. Hopefully that includes figuring out how to mellow my migraines further, getting stronger, discovering more meal ideas that I can make with my allergies, and just generally feeling better.
I also want to have a good plan in place for the wedding day, as long, noisy, and busy days where I don’t eat or rest properly seem to be big triggers for a migraine. After a wonderful but full day of family gatherings on Christmas Eve, I was sick Christmas morning, and had aftereffects for the next week, so I’d like to guard against that in the future.
Tweak My Website
Again, not sure how this will work out yet, but I want to update and redesign my website a bit in 2023. I’ve learned a lot about design, writing, social media, and being an author since I started this site in 2020, but I haven’t really changed anything since. I would love to make it more functional, and hopefully more aesthetically-pleasing . . .
Speaking of which, if any of you design-minded friends have any ideas for me, I’d love to hear them! Are there any color schemes or patterns that you think would fit me so far? Any suggestions for the technical side of things? I’ll probably check in again via email before I make the changes, but I’m always open to suggestions!
Well, I’m sure 2023 will not go as I expect it to, and that’s okay, but those are a few of my biggest goals so far this year. It’s going to be a year with a lot of bittersweet change and figuring stuff out, and I’m excited to see where God leads! Life is an adventure, right?
Do you have any goals for 2023? If so, are there any you want to share? And if you’re not a goal-setting type of person (that’s okay!), is there anything you’re looking forward to, or think might happen this year? I’d love to hear from you, so feel free to share in the comments!
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Happy New Year, Bella! So excited for you about getting MARRIED! 🥳 As for my goals:
1) Publish my current WIP, Where Faith Remains, in April
2) write and publish Where the Light Overcomes, a short story that comes after WFR
3) (maybe) write and publish Where Love Abides, the novel that comes after that
4) (maybe) write the first draft of Forever Yours, which comes after and may be a novella or short story
5) Read 100 books
6) Sign up for NetGalley once I turn 18 this October
7) Graduate high school in June
8) Start college in August
Your goals all sound awesome, and I can’t wait to read Cabin Girl whenever it’s published! God’s timing is certainly not our own and He knows what’s best – and when your book is published, it’s gonna be AMAZING.
Praying for you as you head into 2023!
Wow, you have such a busy year ahead of you! Your goals all sound so amazing, and I’m very excited for you as you reach so many milestones! I’ll be praying for you this year <3
And thank you very much! I appreciate the prayers and sweet comments, friend 🙂
100 books!?!?
I know some people can do that, but I don’t think I’m likely to read anything like that many books in a year! One book per week average is about as many as I can reasonably expect to read. Maybe if I could get them all in paperback that would be more like three books in two weeks or something like that, but 100?!
Wishing you the best of luck, of course!
Haha, it’s a very lofty goal for sure! Who knows, I might not come anywhere close but I know I’ve done that before so maybe I’ll be able to again. I’ll be happy to read any 🙂
Thank you for the well wishes!