2021 Wrap-Up and Goals for 2022
2021 has felt rather long, and yet the end of the year came up really fast. I feel like I’m scrambling to get everything prepped for January and the start of the new year. As just a piece of wrapping up 2021 and prepping for 2022, here’s a recap of the year past and a look at some of my goals for the coming year.
2021: An Overview
This year was split into three parts for me: Before Camp, Camp, and After Camp. Before Camp is already a faint memory. I know I did a lot of reading, I was on a roll with my blog… Beyond that, I don’t really remember what I was up to. XD
Camp was great. The work experience that I got to be a part of, from the community and friendships to the work itself to being constantly surrounded by the vastness of God’s creation, was amazing and I’ve missed it a lot since coming home. I also learned a lot while I was gone, about Scripture, about life, about myself and my giftings and what’s important to me… about a lot of things. (I posted about some of those theological/life lessons on Within the Static.)
Since coming home, I’ve learned a lot about work and rest (and the necessary balance of the two), I’ve worked on building a routine (with both success and failure), my productivity has fluctuated drastically from one week to the next, I’ve had more things to stress me out but I’ve also found areas to improve… It’s just been kind of a roller-coaster and I’m still trying to get my bearings and figure out where I need to be and what I need to be doing now that camp isn’t automatically supplying that direction. If you want to see where my brain has been the past few months, just look at how many songs on my current life playlist are about “home.” XD
Overall, it’s been a pretty good year.
2021: Goals in Review
Continue posting at least once a month on Within the Static
February was the only month I missed this year. Several months had more than one post; a few only had one. Overall, WTS has been going pretty well!
Write a guest post for The Rebelution
That didn’t happen. :P
Write a guest post for Story Embers
This one, either. I did, however, have several posts published on Kingdom Pen!
Post a weekly conversation starter in Discord
I… don’t think I even did this once. XP I need more of a system for remembering to post things like this, which I’m aiming to improve this coming year.
Finish (all) Calligraphy Guild edits
Sadly, this didn’t happen, either. There were some delays (mostly on my end) and I’m still working on my line edits, after which I still have a round of copy-edits. But we’re close!
Start outlining The Dark War Trilogy
To be entirely honest, I completely forgot this was a goal this year.
Post every week on my author social media
I don’t think I posted weekly, but I did post a lot more than I did in 2020 and I’m still finding ways to continue improving my consistency.
Make progress on background project
Yeah, this project got completely dropped. (And this is why I was so vague in posting the goal in the first place.)
Release two worldbuilding courses
I didn’t release two, but I did release The Worldbuilding Toolbox in October! And the second course concept has been converted into another format and I am working on it.
Read 52 books, including one indie book and one nonfiction book each month
I did read 52 books this year! I didn’t quite read an indie book and a nonfiction each month (a couple of months at camp I didn’t finish books at all, because… camp), but I did read a good amount of nonfiction and a number of indie books. So I’m going to count this one as accomplished.
Take CLEP tests
I took U.S. History I and squeaked out a passing grade. I haven’t taken any of the six others I had planned to, yet. :P
Practice French daily
Hahaha. I might have kept this up through the early weeks of camp, but as soon as camp was in full swing I completely fell off the wagon and I haven’t brought the habit back since.
Start learning Hebrew
Nope.
Cross-country road trip
My sister took this trip in my place while I was at camp. I wouldn’t trade camp for anything, but… I am a little bummed since this was meant to be my graduation present.
2022: Concrete Goals
As always, this list includes only the more relevant and/or interesting goals on my list.
Finish 2 drafts of my non-fiction project
I have no idea how many drafts to expect of a non-fiction book, but we’ll see where things are at after two.
Publish Calligraphy Guild
We’re getting close! Just six months!
Send out quarterly newsletters
If you’re not signed up, you can sign up here.
Write 12 new short stories
I might end up ditching this goal partway through the year, depending on how my priorities end up shaking out, but for now I’d like to write several more short stories (probably set in Deseran).
Do 4+ blog collaborations
I love working with other authors and bloggers, so I want to make that more of a focus this year. (If you’re a blogger and you’re interested in collaborating this year, shoot me an email!)
Go to Realm Makers
I know I say this almost every year, and I was a lot more sure of this year a couple months ago before a job opportunity fell through, but I’m still hopeful that this will be the year I’m able to go.
Write for Story Embers
Write for Kingdom Pen
Write for The Rebelution
I actually have lists of potential guest posts this year, which is a huge step in the right direction. I tend to get stumped on what to write about for a guest post vs. one of my own blogs.
Revive my editing services
I’ve been letting my editing services sit on a back burner for the past couple of years because I haven’t had the bandwidth to do much with them, so I haven’t promoted them at all or anything. But I love editing, I love working with authors to polish their work, and I think I have the bandwidth for it again, so this year I want to put my editing out there again.
For starters, I’m running a half-off New Year’s sale running from today through January 7th! All of my editing packages will be half-off for that week, so whether you need an editor right away or you want to book in advance, this is the time to book!
Read 100 books
Since I’m not expecting a 3-month span of not reading much this year, I think I can get back to 100 this year.
Read 10 new-to-me classics
One thing I’ve learned in the past couple of years is that I really enjoy classic literature as a whole, so I’d like to expand my list of read classics.
Take 2 CLEP tests
Going for all seven last year was a little ridiculous, as it turns out, so I’m shooting for just two this year.
Have a 365-day Duolingo streak
The hope was that I’d have already started this streak by the beginning of the year, but, um… I have a 1-day streak to start with. ;P But we’ll see how this goes.
Plant vegetables
I’ve wanted to do more with gardening for a few years, but my family doesn’t have a very good yard for it. We still don’t have a very good yard for it, but I’d like to put more effort into gardening anyway, and I like to plant practical things like vegetables, so… the goal is vegetables.
Complete two crochet projects
I picked crocheting back up shortly after coming home from camp (after years of neglect), because I found I wanted something tangible to work on, and I’d like to continue practicing.
2022: General Hopes
It’s been a rough day, so it took me a while to be able to write this section (which is why this post is late). 2022 currently looks chock-full of uncertainties for me, and I’m not a big fan of those, so I’ve been struggling to keep my mind on the facts that 1) God is certain no matter what and 2) there are projects on this list that I have a good chunk of control over and I can focus on those. Even those I have a large responsibility for aren’t certain, but I can improve my chances of completing them by working on discipline and consistency and whatnot. All of which I know, but I’m having trouble remembering today in particular.
Anyway, I guess my hope is for some sunshine to poke through this year. Some of it is probably seasonal, but it’s felt like a lot has fallen apart or been lost in my life this fall and winter, and it would be nice to regain some hope, either with a change in circumstances or just renewed appreciation for what I have now.
I’d like to grow to trust God more, as well. This applies in a lot of areas, where I know God has it, I know He’s in control and His plan is perfect, I know He has promised to provide… but I struggle to remember it and/or take it to heart.
My word for the year is “stewardship,” which ties in with what I’ve been learning and focusing on in the past year or so about both work and the Kingdom of God (which… actually hearkens back to my theme verse for both 2020 and 2021: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” – Matthew 6:33. I might keep that verse for a third year running). I want to be a better steward of the time and resources and relationships that God has given me, and learn to be responsible with them in a way that blesses His kingdom and reflects His character.
So, yeah. That’s basically what I’m shooting for in the coming year.
How was 2021 for you? What are some of your hopes and goals for 2022?